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PRELIMINARY REPORT

DOMESTIC COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON ILLEGAL ALIENS

DECEMBER 1976

Digitized from Box 18 of the James M. Cannon Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library

PRELIMINARY REPORT

Domestic Council Committee on Illegal Aliens

December, 1976

DOMESTIC COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON ILLEGAL ALIENS

Chairman: Edward H. Levi, Attorney General, Department of Justice

Committee Members:

Secretary of Agriculture Secretary of Commerce Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Secretary of Labor Secretary of State Secretary of the Treasury Director, Office of Management and Budget Director, Domestic Council Special Assistant to the President for Public Liaison

Steering Committee: * Leonard F. Chapman, Commissioner, Immigration and Naturaliza­

tion Service, Immigration Law and Policy task force. Barry R. Chiswick, Senior Staff Member, Council of Economic

Advisers, Technical Adviser. James F. Greene, Deputy Commissioner, Immigration and Naturali­

zation Service, Law Enforcement task force. William F. Luers, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Inter-American

Affairs, Department of State, Foreign Relations task force Richard F. Parsons, Associate Director, Domestic Council Victor Vazquez, Director, Office of Spanish Surnamed

Americans, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Social and Community Impact task force

Joyce Walker, Deputy Associate Director, Office of Management and Budget

Abraham Weiss, Assistant Secretary for Policy, Evaluation and Research, Department of Labor, Economic and Labor Market Impact task force

Executive Director: Doris M. Meissner, Department of Justice

Staff Assistance:

John Chapman, Department of Health, Education and Welfare Norbert J. Krieg, Department of State John Nahan, Immigration and Naturalization Service Jerome Staller, Department of Labor Michael Wenk, Department of Justice

* The Steering Committee is composed of the five task force chairmen, the Domestic Council, the Office of Management and Budget and the Council of Economic Advisers which acts as technical adviser. A complete listing of task force members and their agency affiliations appears as Appendix B to this report.

Preliminary Report Domestic Council Committee on Illegal Aliens

Table of Contents

Page

Executive Summary v

Introduction

Chapter I - United States Immigration Law and Policy

1

A. Historical Review Period of Unrestricted Immigration Period of Qualitative Controls Period of Qualitative and Quantitative

Controls 8

B. Current Immigration Law 11 1965 Amendments 12 Worker Importation Provisions 18

C. Immigration Policies of Other Nations 26 Canada 28 Australia 2 9

D. Conclusions and Recommendations 32

Chapter II - Illegal Immigration: The Global Picture 35

A. Who Wants to Come? - Immigration to the U.S.35 Western Hemisphere 35 Eastern Hemisphere 37

B. Illegal Alien Source Countries International Push-Pull The Migration Phenomenon

C. Mexico and the United States - A Bilateral

39 40 47

Approach 52 U.S.-Mexico Discussions 55 Other Countries 56

D. Competing Foreign Relations Priorities 58 Strict Visa Issuance Controls 58 Tourism 59

E. Conclusions and Recommendations 62

i

Chapter III - Law Enforcement

A.

B.

c.

D.

E.

Background Mexico

The Bracero Program Operation Wetback The Contemporary Problem

Other Countries

Present Enforcement System Authority Tactics and Procedures Court Decisions Visa Screening

Interagency Cooperation 1972 Social Secur·i ty Amendments Department of State

1. Policy 2. Operations 3. Justice/State Cooperation 4. Actions Within Countries

Internal Revenue Service 1. Apprehended Illegal Aliens

90-Day Test 2. Employers of Illegal Aliens

Department of Labor Internal Actions: INS

Disincentives 1. Sanctions on Employers 2. Combating Dilatory Tactics 3. Sanctions on Illegal Aliens 4. Denying Social Benefits 5. Enhancing Enforcement 6. Changes Having an Indirect

Impact

Conclusions and Recommendations

Page

66

66 66 69 70 71 74

76 77 78 84 87

89 89 96· 98 99

100 101 102

102 104 105 107

110 111 116 118 119 120

121

122

Chapter IV - The Illegal Alien: A Soft Portrait 124

A. Data Deficiencies 124

B. Definitions 131

C. Personal Characteristics 132

D. Characteristics of Entry 142

E. Characteristics of Residence 145

ii

Page

F. Characteristics of Work Place 148

G. Use of Services 149

H. Contributions to the Tax Base 151

I. Summary 152

Chapter V - Domestic Impact of Illegal Aliens 154 The Issues of Employment and Earnings 154

A. Hypotheses 155 GNP and Relative Incomes 155 Unemployment and Job Vacancies 159 Taxes and Social Services 161 Additional Hypotheses 162

B. Demographic Characteristics of Legal and Illegal Immigrants 164

c. The Impact Earnings of Immigrants Bracero Program European Guest Workers

D. Summary and Conclusion

170 171 178 181

185

Chapter VI - Illegal Immigration: Social Issues 188

A. Settlement Patterns of Migrants

B. The Welfare Issue General Assistance Supplementary Security Income Medicaid Aid to Families with Dependent

Children Food Stamps Social Security Unemployment Insurance

C. Social and Community Impact Population Growth INS Enforcement Aliens' Rights Organizations Anti-Alien Sentiment Federal-State-Local Relations

D. Conclusions and Recommendations

iii

188

192 194 195 195

196 196 197 198

201 201 205 206 209 211

214

Chapter VII - Dilemmas for the Future

A. Control

B. Information

c. Foreign Policy

D. Growth

E. Research Recommendations

Chapter VIII - Conclusions and Major Recommendations

A. Conclusions

B. Major Recommendations

Bibliography

Appendices

Appendix A - Information Listing of Illegal Alien Impacts

Appendix B - Task Force Members

iv

Page

217

218

221

224

227

229

235

235

240

245

Preliminary Report

Domestic Council Committee on Illegal Aliens

Executive Summary

Introduction

Apprehensions of illegal aliens each year are almost

double the number of people who enter the United States legally.

Illegal aliens, traditionally from Mexico and concentrated

in the Southwest, are from many nations and are found in

many areas of the country. The Domestic Council committee

was established to undertake a comprehensive review of

the issue and its implications. This preliminary report

provides an overview of the policy questions, assesses

current programs and knowledge and presents recommendations

for further action.

Chapter I - U.S. Immigration Law and Policy

During the early years of our history immigration was

unrestricted. In the late 1800's certain classes, such as

convicts, or national groups, such as Chinese, were excluded.

In 1921 numerical limits were introduced based on the concept

of national origin quotas. A major recodification in 1952

established three basic premises for immigration: family

reunification, protection of jobs for the domestic labor force,

and control of alien visitors. However the national origin

v

quota was maintained until 1965 when amendments replaced

it with numerical hemispheric ceilings and introduced a

fourth premise, that of asylum for refugees.

Immigration from the Eastern Hemisphere is held at

170,000 per year with a 20,000 per country limit. Admission

is granted through a preference system which grants 74%

of the places to relatives of U.S. citizens and permanent

aliens. The Western Hemisphere ceiling of 120,000 was

added at the last moment by Congress and operates on a

first-come, first-serve basis with no preference system

* or per country limits. .Labor certification by the Department

of Labor is required for all non-relative classes from both

hemispheres. The 1965 law is the statute which governs

immigration today and has, since 1965, had two major

effects: (1) Immigration has increased by more than 100%

over the 1924-1965 period; and (2) there has been a shift

away from European groups toward Asian and Latin American

groups.

The worker importation provisions of the law apply to

both immigrants and temporary workers but they play a

minimal role in the present policy scheme. Canada and

Australia, the two nations most similar to the u.s. in

immigration matters, weigh employment impact considerations

heavily in their criteria for granting immigrant status.

* P.L. 94-571, signed on October 20, 1976, alters these pro­visions by applying the current preferance system of selection for the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere as well. This report was written and approved prior to that action.

vi

Chapter II - Illegal Immigration: The Global Picture

The principal source of immigration to the United

States currently is Mexico, Jamaica, the Dominican

Republic, Haiti, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and

China. Demand for immigration is intense in these

countries and several have waiting lists of 2 years or

more. These countries are also among the major illegal

alien source countries. The source countries have

similar characteristics in three respects: rapid economic ,.

expansion, high population growth rates, and links with

the U.S. This pattern will apply to increasing numbers

of countries in the future and creates stong push forces

on individuals to migrate. These push forces combine

with the pull of available jobs and low risk of detection

in the United States to produce illegal migration.

The phenomenon of migration occurs in streams

according to certain principles among which the difficulty

of intervening obstacles and development of counterstreams

are prominent. The process is not responsive to legal

limits but rather to its own self-sustaining momentum. Policy

will have to address the fundamental principles of push-pull

and migration to be successful.

Illegal immigration is from many countries but Mexico

is a major source for reasons of both history and geography.

vii

s7 /)

Tbe governments of the U.S. and Mexico have established

bilateral discussions on the issue. However, the illegal

migration issue has not been a priority concern to policy­

makers in the governance of our relations with other source

nations. Actions discouraging illegal entry may compete

with other foreign policy goals, e.g. tourism. However,

illegal immigration merits a far higher and more generalized

level of attention in our conduct of foreign affairs.

Chapter III - Law Enforcement

There is a long history of U.S.-Mexico border enforcement

in immigration matters. Thus the majority of our enforcement

effort is directed at this aspect of illegal immigration.

Illegal entrants from other nations are a relatively

recent development that requires significantly different

techniques.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has

primary responsibility for immigration enforcement. It is

aided by the Department of State which issues visas overseas.

Prevention of illegal entry is the agency priority and is

done through inspection of individuals at ports of entry

and policing our land and borders between ports. INS also

carries on investigative activities within our borders

viii

against illegals who escape detection at entry or overstay

authorized entry. Recent court decisions have limited

INS' latitude in the interior, making prevention more

important.

Several other agencies have enforcement roles which are -.. ~ ......

related to illegal immigration. They are the Social Security

Administration, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Customs Service,

and the Wage and Hour division of the Department of Labor.

The Committee has evaluated current and proposed additional

means of interagency cooperation among them and INS and the

Department of State. Experience has shown that cooperation

on enforcement matters is difficult when the agency is service

oriented such as, the Social Security Administration. However,

much can be done to increase the effectiveness of enforcement

with the tools presently available both among and within the

agencies concerned.

In addition to improved interagency efforts, certain

disincentives to illegal migration are needed which require

legislation. The disincentives are designed to lessen the

economic pull which draws illegals to the u.s., discourage

the use of the law to gain time and establish equity for

immigration benefits, increase enforcement authorities

to aid in capturing smugglers and the like, and streamline

the law of anachronistic provisions which detract from

more import~nt tasks.

ix

Chapter IV - The Illegal Alien: A Soft Portrait

Judging the impact of illegal aliens on our society

requires information which is extremely sketchy at best.

Data deficiencies center on the difficulty of counting

and describing a clandestine population and the unrepresenta-

tiveness of using predominantly apprehended, Mexican illegals

because they are readily accessible for research purposes.

Many studies were reviewed and a composite description

of the illegal includes personal characteristics by

nationality, origin within native country, age, sex,

education, marital status, language ability, and

motivation; characteristics of entry by entry without

inspection, visa abuse and others; characteristics of

residence by location, mobility, and wage remissions;

and characterisitcs of work place. The major points of

agreement are that the principal impact of illegals is in

the labor market, language ability is an important

determinant in the type of employment, significant

percentages of earnings are returned to the illegals'

native country, and Mexican illegal migration may be

substantially different from that from other source countries.

Chapter V - Domestic Impact of Illegal Aliens: The Issues of Employment and Earnings

Because research on illegal aliens is in an embryonic

state, an exposition of domestic impact remains tentative.

X

Among several perceptionsconcerning the economic impact

of illegals are: (a) low skilled illegal alien workers

compete with low skilled natives depressing their wages

and tending to increase earnings of skilled workers and

owners of capital; (b) illegal aliens create unemployment

by taking vacant jobs; and (c) illegal aliens take more

from the system in services than they contribute in taxes.

The data currently available cannot provide answers. At '·-}

best it indicates certain directions.

Useful information may be obtained from analyses -.--····

on the foreign born and their impact in combination with

what is known about illegals. Earnings of the foreign

born rise with tenure in the u.s. and after 13 or more

years are substantially the same as natives. This implies

that if undetected, illegals would have the same profile as

natives and therefore would not remain a cheap labor source.

The analysis does not hold for Hispanics, an important

illegal alien characteristic, nor does it incorporate the

illegality factor as a barrier to upward mobility.

The termination of the bracero program showed that

sudden removal of alien labor opened jobs which natives

took at improved wages while income to owners decreased

and consumer prices for their products increased.

xi

European countries have made extensive use of temporary

foreign workers who have made positive contributions to

economic growth but who have not returned as planned and

create problems during times of .economic slowdown.

Chapter VI - Illegal Inunigration: Social Issues

Migrants moving into new areas seem to resettle according to

four stages. First, young, unmarried males predominate

followed by married men in the second stage. In the third

stage, single males marry and marrieds send for their

families and settle permanently attracting supporting

populations of employers, businesses, etc. in the final

stage. Restrictions to keep migration temporary rarely

work and the last stage is frequently marked by tension

with the native population. Different parts of the u.s.

may be experiencing different stages of settlement at this

time.

Within the context of settlement, the welfare issue

or use of income transfer programs by illegals has received

much attention. These programs are examined and with the

possible exception of food stamps, which restrict eligibility

on the basis of citizenship, illegals are unlikely to qualify

based on age, sex and other personal characteristics.

Definitive judgment must await better information on the

characteristics of illegals and the settlement stage(s) of

various groups and areas.

xii

Several other social issues raised by illegal

immigration are population growth, INS enforcement,

anti-alien sentiment and federal-state-local relations.

Immigration is one of the major aspects of our population

growth as a nation. If the net number of illegals is

at least equal to our net immigration, the numerical

impact is a central factor in growth.

INS enforcement causes community resentment and

hostility in many areas, particularly in ethnic communities.

The greatest degree of support is to be found with

employer targeted enforcement; seri,ous difficulties

accompany residence based efforts. This potential

for strife is also apparent in anti-illegal alien

organizing in some large urban areas.

The federal government has not worked closely with

other units of government on illegal alien issues although

these are the levels at which immediate impacts are keenly

felt. The existence of underground communities which

actively avoid government presents significant problems

which require cooperation and coordination to prevent.

Chapter VII - Dilemmas for the Future

Beyond the issues and topics discussed in the report,

immigration matters lead to large philosophical and policy

questions for the society which will only be answered over

xiii

time. Some of the larger areas within which immigration

is or should be an important component are government control

over individuals in law enforcement matters, research

methodologies and the limitations of information, long-

range foreign policy priorities and imperatives, and

the limits of and potential for growth.

The conclusions of the report and recommendations

make up Chapter VIII.

xiv

- 1 -

PRELIMINARY REPORT

Domestic Council Committee on Illegal Aliens

Introduction

Immigration to the United States is intended to be

governed by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.

Under the provisions of the Act, approximately 400,000

aliens are admitted annually for permanent residence.

Actual immigration, however, bears little resemblance to

the program administered under the law. In 1975, 766,600

aliens who had entered or remained in the u.s. illegally

were located, about twice the number permitted to enter

by law. It is believed that the number of illegal aliens

residing and working in the United States is considerably

in excess of the number apprehended and can be expected to

increase.

Historically, apprehended illegal entrants to the

United States have been largely Mexican in origin concen­

trated on the Southwest border in rural areas doing

agricultural work. Increasingly in the last decade

concentrations of illegal aliens are found in industralized

urban as well as rural areas throughout the country.

Metropolitan centers such as New York and Chicago report

illegal populations numbering in the millions although

hard numbers which are reliable do not exist. In addition,

the illegal population, while predominantly Hispanic, is

from many parts of the world.

- 2 -

We are a nation of immigrants and have throughout

our history been the most hospitable nation in the world

for immigrants. Immigrants have and continue to contribute

much to this country individually and in the development

of our social and political values. We are also a nation

of laws with a commitment to systems which enforce those

laws fairly and effectivley. A growing influx of unauthorized

immigrants has important implications for the United States.

The overwhelming majority of illegal aliens who come to

the United States are in search of economic opportunity.

Many compete for jobs of interest to native workers. Others

accept employment for which Americans are seemingly unavail­

able. All, due to their illegal status, live in fear of

apprehension. As a result, they are susceptible to economic

exploitation and other forms of abuse, and often live in

an invisible subculture outside the boundaries of law and

legitimate institutions.

Because illegal aliens are in a sense invisible, the

issue is not only difficult to anlayze as a practical matter

but is controversial to acknowledge for policy purposes in

contexts other than law enforcement. Furthermore, illegal

migration in times of prosperity tends to be viewed as a

handmaiden of economic growth but it becomes transformed into

a threat in times of economic downturn. Recent awareness of

- 3 -

the finite nature of resources and of population issues

has tended to :render the cyclical nature of a concern over

illegal aliens an ongoing concern.

In January, 1975, President Ford, established a Domestic

Council Committee on Illegal Aliens. Chaired by the Attorney

General, the committee consists of the Secretaries of

Agriculture; Commerce; Health, Education and Welfare; Labor;

Treasury; State; and the Office of Management and Budget

with the Council of Economic Advisors acting in a technical

advisory capacity. In January, 1976, the Attorney General

reorganized the committee into five task forces as follows:

Immigration Law and Policy - Chair: Immigration and Naturalization Service

Economic and Labor Market Impact of Illegal Aliens -Chair: Department of Labor

Social and Community Impact on Illegal Aliens - Chair: Department of Health, Education and Welfare

Enforcement - Chair: Immigration and Naturalization Service

1/ Foreign Relations- - Chair: Department of State

The task forces are chaired by senior officials selected

by the respective Department Secretaries and have functioned

as working committees. The task force chairmen comprise a

Steering Committee which has provided coordination between

full committee meetings.

1/ This task force.is also known as the Interagency Committee on Mexican Migration to the u.s. which had been previously constituted pursuant to meetings between President Ford and President Echeverria of Mexico in 1974. The scope of its activities as originally defined has been broadened for purposes of the Domestic Council inquiry.

- 4 -

The task forces were charged with undertaking a

comprehensive review of the illegal alien issue and

were asked to submit reports of their work by June 1,

1976. Those reports have been combined and integrated

to create this preliminary report of the Domestic

Council Committee. The report has a fourfold purpose:

to provide an overview of the issues and policy

questions involved in a comprehensive examination

of the illegal alien issue;

to catalogue and assess current efforts to deal

with the phenomenon of illegal immigration;

to catalogue and assess current knowledge about

the implications of illegal immigration for the

needs and interests of the United States; and

to formulate recommendations outlining ways in

which the government might respond.

The terminology used in the report is as follows:

illegal aliens are citizens of other countries who are

not authorized to be in the United States. Basically there

are two categories of illegal aliens. Some illegal aliens

were never authorized to be in the u.s. and possess no

immigration documents. Such persons are known as EWI's

(Entry Without Inspection) because they entered the country

surreptitiously. The second category of illegal aliens

is individuals who originally entered the u.s. legally and

- 5 -

in possession of a visa issued by a u.s. Consul overseas

but have since violated or overstayed the terms of the visa.

Such persons are known as visa abusers. They may have

obtained the visa through misrepresentation of their

intentions, they may have changed plans for a variety of

reasons after having arrived in the u.s., or they may have

obtained counterfeit documents and escaped detection at

the port of entry.

The method of entry and reason for being illegal are

important to certain aspects of this report and will be

treated as such. However in many contexts the terms illegal

alien, visa abuser, undocumented worker, illegal immigrant,

clandestine migrant and unauthorized worker are used

interchangeably. Conversely, the terms used to describe

persons legally admitted to the u.s. for permanent residence

who are eligible to work are permanent resident alien,

immigrant, legal immigrant, or commuter.

Apprehension figures will be cited throughout the report

and are one important index of the existence of an illegal

alien problem. It is important to note that apprehension

figures denote the occurrenceof an event, i.e., they are a

workload measurement, not a total number of people. Many

apprehended illegals are known repeaters.Thus the number

of people apprehended each year by INS is less by an unknown

proportion than the number of apprehensions.

- 6 -

CHAPTER I UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION LAW AND POLICY

A. HISTORICAL REVIEW OF U.S. IMMIGRATION POLICY

The history of Immigration in the United States is a

chronicle of the conflicting philosophies of economics,

sociology, politics, and of compassion and prejudice.

Immigration to the Colonies had its beginnings in the

early 1600's when a few hundred colonists established

settlements at Jamestown and Plymouth. Some two and a

half centuries later, more than 10 million more had

followed the original vanguard. In 1866 the Statue of

Liberty was dedicated and still bears an inscription

familiar to most of us:

"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

The spirit of that inscription has in the past generally,

though not always, reflected the viewpoint of the American

people.

Period of Unrestricted Immigration

Despite some misgivings, the general attitude of the

original 13 Colonies was to encourage immigration. Such

encouragement was not motivated merely by a spirit of

altruism, for immigrants represented a solution to a chronic

labor shortage, the means of promoting land settlement of

a sparsely populated country and its resources.

-

-·

- 7 -

During the first 100 years following the founding

of our country, there was little legislation affecting

immigration. The act of March 2, 1819 marked the '

beginning of so-called steerage legislation which sought

to improve living conditions on ships bringing immigrants

to the United States. In 1875 a statute barred the

admission of convicts and prostitutes. This was followed

in 1882 by the adoption of the first general immigration

statute barring the entry of convicts, mental incompetents,

and persons likely to become public charges. In the same

year, the Chinese Exclusion Act became law and remained

in effect until it was repealed in 1943.

In 1885 and 1887 Congress passed the contract labor

laws, which were designed to end the practice of importing

cheap foreign labor under labor contracts which adversely

affected the labor market in the United States.

Period of Qualitative Controls

These individual immigration laws were codified in

1891 and began a period of qualitative controls. The a.ct

increased the number of classes of aliens who were to be

excluded, including polygamists, those convicted of crimes

involving moral turpitude, paupers, and those afflicted

with a dangerous disease. Insane persons, epileptics,

professional beggars, and anarchists were added soon thereafter.

Aliens who had entered illegally were to be deported within

one year.

- 8 -

From 1900-1910, over four million immigrants were

admitted primarily from southern and eastern Europe in

contrast to previous migrations from northern Europe.

The surging tide of immigration during this period

created uneasiness, largely due to economic uncertainty.

In 1917 Congress passed another comprehensive revision

of the immigration laws which included an English literacy

test, excluded Asians, and again provided for the deporta­

tion of aliens who had entered the United States illegally.

Period of Qualitative and Quantitative Controls

Until 1921, immigration legislation had been concerned

solely with qualitative factors relating to immigrants,

and no restriction had been placed on the number of entrants.

After World war I, immigration began to increase, leading

to demands for restrictions to dam the expected flood of

immigrants from the war-devastated countries of Europe.

A lagging economy and an increasingly isolationist mood

in the country strengthened these demands.

The ensuing Quota Law of 1921 represented a drastic

change in American immigration policy. Introducing

numerical limitations on immigration, the act limited the

number of aliens of any nationality entering the United

States to three percent of foreign-born persons of that

nationality who lived in the United States in 1910. A

ceiling of 350,000 was placed on the total number of aliens

who could be admitted as immigrants during any one year.

-- 9 -

The policy of numerical restrictions became permanent

through the enactment of the Immigration Act of 1924

designed to supplement the qualitative restrictions of

the 1917 act. A national origins formula was adopted

which eventually based a quota for each nationality on

the number of persons of that national origin in the

United States in 1920. Under this formula the number of

persons coming from southern and eastern Europe fell

sharply. A ceiling of approximately 150,000 was placed

on the number of quota immigrants who were permitted to

enter each year. However, the act also established

certain classes of non-quota aliens able to enter in

unrestricted numbers. These included natives of Western

Hemisphere countries, alien wives and children of American

citizens and returning lawful residents. In addition, the act

'required each intending immigrant to obtain a visa abroad from

a United States consular officer and a sponsor in the u.s.

Persons entering in violation of the visa or quota

requirements could be deported without time limitation.

To exclude Asians, another provision barred ineligible aliens

from acquiring citizenship.

The basic economic and sociological premise of the

1924 act was that more than 150,000 immigrants per year

might be detrimental to the country. The next premise was

- 10-

that maintaining the national origins make-up of the existing

population by rationing the quotas in that proportion was

a desirable end. Compassion gave special status to the

wives and children of United States citizens, even though

this might distort the mix. Other considerations, perhaps

political, permitted immigration of Western Hemisphere

natives without regard to numbers or to the percentage

of such people in the make-up of the population. Prejudice

doubtless excluded Asians. Although the Immigration Acts of

1917 and 1924 remained substantially unchanged until 1952,

some restrictions were relaxed by humanitarian considerations

related to the flight of refugees from Communist countries 2/

in the post-World War II era.

2/ The War Brides Act of 1945 allowed admission of 118,000 aliens, and the Fiances Act of 1946 brought 5,000 aliens. The Displaced Persons Act of 1948 authorized admission of about 400,000 persons unable to remain in Germany, Italy and Austria. The Refugee Relief Act of 1953 permitted 214,000 refugees to be admitted in three and a half years. Emergency measures for Hungarian and Cuban refugees followed. Most recently Vietnamese refugees were paroled into the United States.

-11 -

B. CURRENT IMMIGRATION LAW

Although amended, the Immigration and Nationality Act

of 1952 is still the basic statute dealing with immigration

and nationality. It not only recodified existing law but

made many changes. Built upon three basic premises

family reunification, protecting available jobs for the

domestic labor force, and control of alien visitors

the act nevertheless maintained the national origin quota

system. However, it also provided for:

(1) permanent, limited immigration according to

preferences for certain relatives of United

States citizens and resident aliens and for

immigrants with special skills;

(2} visa requirements for visitors;

{3} grounds for exclusion of undesirable aliens;

(4) a double screening barrier requiring both a

visa and port of entry admission; and

(5) deportation grounds, procedures and relief

from deportation.

The basic underlying selection factor of the 1924 act

was the national origin quota, not occupational status or

relationship to persons already residing in the United States.

Criticized with some vigor from the very beginning, by 1952

opposition to the national origins quota system had become

- 12-

quite vociferous. But the opposition was not sufficient

to prevent enactment of a new law, over Presidential veto,

with the national origin quota provision intact.

1965 Amendments

By 1965 the major political issue concerning immigration

was the national origins quota system and its validity as

a basis for selecting immigrants to the United States.

In 1963, amendments to the Immiqration and Nationality

Act of 1952 were introduced which brought the

national origins quota system into question. On October 3,

1965 the amendments were signed into law and comprise the

system under which immigration operates today.

The 1965 amendments abolished national origin quotas

as the basis for admission to the United States and

substituted family relationship and needed talents or

skills as the prerequisites for immigration. The visitor

and deportation related features of the 1952 act were

retained as was a revised form of the preference system.

The major provisions of the act are as follows:

1. Reunification of families is the foremost

consideration for gaining immigration admissibility.

The closer the family relationship to a u.s.

citizen or permanent resident alien, the higher

the preference.

- 13-

2. Preference for admission is also available

for individuals who possess certain special

talents or skills: a} professionals or those

with exceptional ability in the arts or sciences;

and b) skilled or unskilled workers who can

fill specific labor needs in short supply.

Individuals admitted under these provisions

must obtain a labor certification from the

Secretary of Labor.

3. Annual ceilings of 170,000 for Eastern Hemisphere

natives and for the first time, 120,000 for

Western Hemisphere natives were established.

The preference system as outlined below applies

to Eastern Hemisphere immigration. Western

Hemisphere immigration is first come -- first

serve.*

4. Spousesandchildren of U.S. citizens and parents

of citizens over 21 years of age are exempt from

the numerical ceilings.

5. For the Eastern Hemisphere, a foreign state

limitation of 20,000 visas per annum was established.

6. Entry of a specified number of refugees annually

was authorized in place of separate, special

legislative enactments.

*See footnote, p. vi.

- 14-

7. Labor certification controls were strengthened

to control the influx of skilled and unskilled

foreign workers.

The new preference system went into effect on December 1,

1965, while the system of hemispheric ceilings was not

effective until July 1, 1968. (See Charts 1 and 2.)

Considerable attention was given to the nature of

the new preference system. Prior to 1965, skilled workers

and professionals who had pre-arranged employment were

classified as first preference immigrants and allotted

fifty percent of each national quota. This preference

was used infrequently and the emphasis upon skilled labor

over relatives was largely reversed by the 1965 amendments

which decreased reliance on imported workers. Three of the

first five preference classes are allotted to relatives of

u.s. citiz~ns. The percentage of the total limitation

accorded to the relative classes rose from 50% to 74%.

Only professionals are placed ahead of any of the relative

classes. Moreover, an additional 6% of the limitation

was set aside for the new refugee preference,

leaving only 20% for workers and their families (10% for

professionals; 10% for skilled or unskilled workers) . The

worker preferences cannot benefit from "fall down" -- unused

portions of higher preference allocations -- whereas the

relative preference can, and workers, both professional and

nonprofessional, are subjected to an affirmative labor

certification requirement.

- - 15 -

CHART 1

NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS ON IMMIGRATION VISAS

Some form of numerical limitation has been imposed on immigration into the United States since 1921, although certain classes of immigrants have traditionally been able to obtain visas outside of these limitations. Outlined below are the basic elements of the amendments of the Immigration and Nationality Act by the Act of October 3, 1965.

Ad of October 3, 1965

I. Classes not subject to the numerical limita­tions:·

(1) Spouse and children of U.S. citizens and parents of citizens o,·er the age of 21; (Sec. 20l(b} ).

(2) Returning residents; (Sec. 101(a) (27)· (B)}.

(3) Certain former U.S. citizens; (Sec. 101 (a) (27) (C)).

( 4) ·Ministers of religion and the spouse and children of such immigrants; (Sec. lOl(a) (27) (D)).

(5) Certain employees or former employees of the U.S. Government abroad and the accompanying spouse and children of such immigrants; (Sec.lOl(n) (27) (E)).

II. Numerical limitations to which other ap­plicants are subject :

(1) Overall numerical limitation: 170,000 per annum;

(2) National limit: 2o,ooo;

(3) Dependent area lfmitation: Each colony or other dependency may use not more than 1 percent-of the total of visa numbers avail­able to the mother country;

(4) Quartedy limitation: Xot more than 45,000 in any of the first three quarters of the fiscal year.

III. }lreference system (pet•centage applied against 1 iO,OOO limitntioti} : (1) First p1't'fcrence: l~nmnrl'ied sons and

daughte1-s of u.S. citizens. Not more than 20 percent.

(2) Second preference: Spouse and unmar­ried sons and daughters of an alien In ,>fully admitted for permanent residence.

20 percent plus any not required for first preference.

(3) Third preference: lfembers of the pro­fessions and scientists and artists of excep­tional ability.

Not more thaulO percent.

( 4) Fourth• preference: lfarried sons and daughters of r.s. citizens.

10 percent plus any not required for the. first three preferences.

(5) Fifth preference: Brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens.

24 percent plus any not required for the first four preferences.

(6) Sixth preference: Skilled and unskilled workers in occupations for which labor is in short supply in the rnited States.

Not more than 10 percent. (7) SeYenth preference: Refugees to whom

conditional entry or adjustment of status may be granted.

Not more than 6 percent. (8) N'onpreference: Any applicant not en­

titled to one of the abm·e preferences. Any numbers not required for preference applicants.

(9) The spouse and child of any preference applicant may be classified within the same preference if a dsa is not otherwise im­mediately n \·ailable.

IV. Immigrants horn in any independent coun­try of the \re.stem Hemisphere or in the Canal Zone :uul the spouse and children of such immigmnts are suLject to a numeriral Jimitation of 120,000 per annum; (Sec. :tl (e), Act of Oc.:t. 3, 1065).

- 16-

CHART 2

* EASTERX AND WBSTERN IU~lli~Pifl<:RE PHOVI~IOXS 01•~ THE I.~.\ W

Tile ditferell~ea b' tlte /mmigmtim& cmd ~vationnlity .:lt.·t relatht(! to immigmtio11 from the A'utet•n /lemi81'1'ere a11d tl1e lVeatern /JemiBpherc are outliuetl below:

Eastern Hemisphere

1. Xumet·icltl limitntions: 170.000 per annum: not mot-e thnn 20~000 per foreign state.

2. As n selecth·c mechanism to enable distribu­tion of the numbers to the immigrants de­sired~ a systl'm of se,·en preference classes exists: Four ( 1. 2, 4, and 5) bnsed on relation­ship to t;.S. citizens or resident aliens, two (3 and 6) based on need for labor, and one (7) fot• refugees.

3. Applicability of section 212(a) (14) is ex­plicitly restricted to applicants within the 3d, 6th. nnd nonpreferencc categories, thus exempting sons and daughters (married or unmarried) and brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens.

4. Adjustment of status in the United States from nonimmigrant to that of a permanent resident may be obtained.

6. Parents of resident aliens (not being entitled to a preference) are subject to section 212 (a) (14).

6. Immigrants may not enter from contiguous territory without first residing therein for 2 years unlf'ss they have arrived there on a tnnsportntion line which has an appropri­ate contract with the .Attorney General for this purpose.

* See Footnote, p. vi.

Western Hemisphere

1. Xumerical limit:\tions: 120,000 pt>r annum limitation bt•camc l:'tfective ,July 1, 1968; no fot-eign state limitation. (This limitation is imposed by the 19G:l .Act, not by the Inuni­gration and Xntionality .Act.)

2. Xo provision has been made for a preference system.

:1: Section 212(aY (14) expressly applies to all applbmts from the " .. estern Hemisphere other tlum p~rents. spouses, or children of U.S. citizens and resident aliens.

4. Adjustment of status in the United States from nonimmigrant to that of a permanent resident is not permitted, although the Act of Xovember 2, 1966, permits the adjust­ment of Cuban refugees.

5. Parents of resident aliens are exempt from the prm·isions of section 212 (a) ( 14).

6. Xo prohibition on entry from contiguous territory.

-..... 17 ..

Application of the amendments to the Western Hemisphere

does not appear to have been systematically considered.

Prior to 1963 immigration from the Western Hemisphere had

never been numerically limited, nor were proposals to

establish limitations ever seriously considered·. Thus,

there had also never been a selection process with the

system operating largely on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The proposal to limit numerically Western Hemisphere natives

originated with the Congress. Its inclusion in the bill

apparently resulted from compromises viewed as necessary

to gain abolition of the national origins quota system.

Although a Western Hemisphere ceiling was established,

the law fails to provide any system of preferences or

foreign state limitations for Western Hemisphere immigration~

Subsequent to enactment of the amendments, it was contended

that the labor certification provision would serve to

regulate immigration from the Western Hemisphere, rendering

a preference system or foreign state limitations unnecessary.

The evolution of demand for immigration from the Western

Hemisphere has proven this assertion to have been incorrect.

The abolition of the national origins quota system has

had two significant results.

1. Average annual immigration since 1965 has risen

to 390,329 from an average annual figure of

*See Footnote, p. v1.

- 18 -

190,447 during the 1924 to 1965 period, an

increase of more than 100%. Although an annual

number of 290,000 is authorized by the hemispheric

ceiling provisions of the law, the additional

100,000+ result from the exempt categories of

parents, spouses and children.

2. Immigrant source countries have changed resulting

in a basic ethnic shift away from European groups

toward Asian and Latin American groups.

Worker Importation Provisions

The great majority of post-1965 immigrants have entered

the u.s. on the basis of family ties to u.s. residents.

Thus they have been selected independent of labor market

considerations. Nonetheless one goal of the current law is

to allow entrance for needed workers both on a permanent

and temporary basis. This goal is an important aspect of a

discussion of illegal immigration and is therefore examined

more fully in this section.

Permanent Immigrant Workers

Under current law 11 certification by the Secretary of

Labor is required prior to issuance of an immigrant visa

for all third, sixth and non-preference immigrants

from the Eastern Hemisphere and immigrants from the

11 Section 212(a) (14) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

- 19 -

Western Hemisphere except parents, spouses or children

of u.s. citizens or resident aliens. These categories

potentially comprise 10-20% of u.s. immigrants each year.

To issue a labor certification the Secretary of

Labor must certify that (a) there are not sufficient

workers in the u.s. at the alien•s destination able,

willing and qualified to perform the job, and (b) employ-

ment of the alien will not adversely affect waaes i'lnti t.rorw-i,..,,... - ~ • -- ;J

conditions of similarly employed u. s. workers. Thus

certification on a case-by-case basis is required to allow

an alien to enter. This is a direct reversal of the pro-

visions of the 1952 act under which a certification was

required to keep an alien out.

The Department of Labor has published two occupational

schedules. Schedule A -- a precertified list -- consists

of occupations generally in short supply nationwide.

Schedule B -- the noncertification list -- includes low-skill

occupations requiring little or no education, training or

experience for satisfactory job performance and for which

domestic workers are available or can be readily trained.

An alien whose category of employment appears on Schedule A

qualifies for a certification without a job offer or DOL

review. A labor certification without a job offer can also

be granted to aliens who are members of professions

or persons of exceptional ability in the sciences or arts.

- 20 -

A specific job offer is a prerequisite for all other

aliens who request certification. The alien's application

must be filed by the prospective employer or the employer's

representative at the State Employment Service (ES) office

serving the area where the alien is to be employed. The

ES office forwards the application together with pertinent

information on the availability of domestic workers and

the prevailing wages and working conditions to the appro-

priate DOL regional office for a determination leading to

the granting or denial of certification.

Department of Labor estimates supported by independent

research, !/ indicate that only 12 to 15 percent (in FY

1974 less than 10 percent) of the approximately 400,000

immigrants admitted annually receive labor certifications.

Moreover, of those relatively few, over half (57%) change

occupations -- not just jobs -- within two years or less.

Thus less than 5 percent of the immigrants are meaningfully

screened for their labor market impact, although the

majority (65%) of each year's 400,000 immigrants enter the

labor market. Furthermore, in 1968, one in every 10 aliens

applying for certification was already in the u.s. By 1972,

4/ North, Davids., Alien Workers: A Study of the Labor Certification Program, u.s. Department of Labor, August, 1971.

- 21 -

this proportion has increased to 4 in 10. Most already held

the job for which certification was requested further

diluting the effectiveness of the certification.

The present program has.obvious shortcomings which

attach both to the goal stated in the legislation and the

actual workings of the program:

1. Approximately 1.7 million people join the civilian labor force annually while less than 40,000 (10% of new immigrants) have labor certifications. Sixty-five percent or about 260,000 of new immigrants enter the labor market.

2. A negative labor certification decision does not decrease the number of immigrant workers arriving. It simply stops a parti­cular immigrant from coming to a particular place in the United States. His place on the visa waiting list will be filled by someone else, probably destined to work elsewhere. Thus there is no impact on the macro labor markets.

3. Impact on micro labor markets is minimal since there is no control over the worker after he arrives and 57% change occupations quickly.

4. The post-1965 labor certification process has not changed the distribution, among broad occupational categories, of immigrants entering the u.s. for employment.

5. In the significant number of cases where the alien applicants for labor certification are already here and working, the labor certification decision has no real impact.

- 22 -

6. In cases where the worker is not here or not permitted to remain, timing is important. In the Western Hemisphere, backlogs caused by statutory limitations on numbers, currently result in delays of two years to secure a visa. Even in the up to date areas of the Eastern Hemisphere, it takes several months to gain admission. During this period the employer does not have the worker he claims he needs. Further, the labor market situation may have reversed by the time the worker arrives, and there may then be available resident workers with requisite skills.

Temporary Nonimmigrant Workers

Each year approximately 6 million aliens are admitted

temporarily into the United States for a variety of reasons

and under many types of visas. About 60,000 or 1% enter

solely for employment in the U.S. labor market, i.e., as

entertainers, agricultural and woods workers, athletes,

construction workers, visiting professors, artists, and the

like. The visa designations are H-1 for aliens of outstanding

merit and ability (about 15,000/per year), H-3 for industrial

trainees (about 5,000/per year), and H-2 for the other

temporary workers (about 40,000/per year). ~/ Only the H-2

temporary worker is subject to a DOL certification.

The Immigration and Nationality Act is clear as to the

intent of Congress in making the temporary "importing" of

any alien as a nonimmigrant contingent upon the approval by

~/ Another category of nonimmigrant workers, the L's, comprises intracompany international trans·ferees and ":heir families. This group represented over 22,000 persons in FY 1975.

- 23 -

the Attorney General of a petition of the "importing employer."

Congress provides that the alien to be imported under the

provisions of section lOl(a) (15) (H) (ii), be coming "temporarily

to the United States to perform temporary services or labor,

if unemployed persons capable of performing such service or

labor cannot be found in the United States." An employer

who wishes to import temporary workers, therefore, must make

an effort to recruit United States workers prior to seeking

to import temporary workers.

The Department of Labor's role in connection with the

temporary employment of alien workers in the United States

is advisory only. The Attorney General has determined that

DOL is the appropriate agency of the government for consul­

tation regarding the importation of an H-2 temporary alien

worker. Decisions authorizing entrance of H-1 -- aliens of

"distinguished merit and ability" -- and H-3 -- trainees

visitors are made by the Immigration and Naturalization

Service (INS) without consultation with DOL. DOL either

certifies that qualified u.s. workers are not available and

that the employment of the H-2 alien will not adversely

affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers that

are similarly employed, or provides notice that such a certi­

fication cannot be made.

- 24 -

Administrative appeal from a DOL refusal to certify

is to the INS whose regulations provide that upon DOL

notification that a certification cannot be made, the

petitioning employer may present evidence that qualified

persons in the United States are not available and that

DOL employment policies have been observed. All such

evidence is then considered by INS in adjudicating the

petition.

Finally, the DOL advisory opinion accompanying a non-

immigrant visa petition to accord an alien worker H-2

classification requires a determination as to "availability"

and "adverse effect." DOL has interpreted these criteria

as follows:

1. Availability

A prospective employer who is unsuccessful in his attempt to obtain United States workers must present detailed evidence of the attempts made and the number of responses received, in what manner the United States workers did not meet the requirements offered or were otherwise unwilling or unable to accept the employment.

When an employer places a job offer with the State Employment Service (ES) to test the local market for availability, the offer must be for the same job and the same terms and conditions as those offered an alien. However, the ES is only one source of job applicants, involved in a small percentage of job placement in the u.s. economy, and does not actively deal in placements in all occupations in the economy. The fact that it cannot produce qualified

- 25 -

workers for a given occupation at a single time and place therefore cannot serve as proof that U.S. workers are not available from other usual sources of recruitment.

2. Adverse effect

DOL makes the adverse effect determination from the contents of the entire application, viewed in the light of labor market information, special circumstances in the industry, parti­cular organization, or particular occupation, existence of labor disputes, discrimination, misrepresentation, or conflict with provisions of Federal, State, or local laws. Adverse effects upon wages and working conditions of workers similarly employed may include hiring aliens during strikes; hiring aliens of below prevailing skills at below prevailing wages; hiring aliens for jobs involving a variety of skills, high and low, and paying at the lower skills rate; excessive turnover of employees in the establishment; excessive percentage of alien employees in the establishment; or hiring of aliens for jobs for which they are not qualified or for which they cannot obtain a required license.

A wage or salary offer at less than pre­vailing wages is an important aspect of adverse effect. In determining the prevailing wage, the content of the basic job to be performed is considered -- not for whom it is to be performed. As the prevailing wage, DOL applies that wage found to be prevailing for those similarly employed in the same area, without distinction as to whether the job is in a public or private organization, in a union or nonunion situation, or in a large or small establishment.

In addition, DOL takes into account whether employment offered an alien temporary worker is temporary or permanent because the availability of United States workers in a given occupation can vary considerably depending on whether employment is permanent or temporary. The nature of the industry for which alien temporary

- 26 -

workers are sought is the principal determinant. Coal mining, for example, is a permanent industry and the occupations associated with it are permanent. In other industries, employers cross­train the work force to handle peak demands, or upgrade the work force to fill in behind highly skilled workers and temporarily fill in behind them from among local workers; there are also peak or cyclical needs in some industries which can be met only by the temporary employment of temporary workers.

Viewed together the labor certification and temporary

worker programs involve approximately 80,000 aliens each

year. One-half are permanent and the other are temporary.

Since about 400,000 individuals enter as immigrants and about

6 million as visitors each year, it is fair to conclude that

the worker importation provisions of the current law play a

minimal role in the present scheme of immigration policy.

C. IMMIGRATION POLICIES OF OTHER NATIONS

Few other nations have formalized immigration systems.

Some, for example Israel and South Africa, have such specific

goals as to be largely irrelevant for our purposes. Those

which most nearly approximate the history and policies of

the u.s. are Australia and Canada. Their approach offers the

basis for some helpful comparative analysis.

Canadian and Australian attitudes towards persons

seeking admission as immigrants are substantially different

from our own. Both countries take an active interest in

recruiting, assessing and assisting prospective immigrants.

- 27 -

Both maintain substantial numbers of officers with wide

discretionary powers in foreign countries for the purpose

of interviewing. The personal quality of the prospective

immigrant weighs heavily in the final assessment. Qualita­

tive selection criteria for immigration in both Canada and

Australia are so broadly stated as to demand expansion and

development through administrative processes. Although the

grounds for exclusion are to protect the security and economic

well-being of the importing country and the health and welfare

of its people, in practice both of these countries have left

to the administrators the power and authority to tailor the

qualitative selection procedures to best suit their changing

national needs.

Our own system of accepting immigrants inclines to

be almost mechanistic by comparison. If the alien has no

criminal or subversive record, meets the labor certification

requirement, will not become a public charge, and is not

within any other excludable class, an immigrant visa will

normally be issued. How well an applicant may personally

fit into life in the United States does not concern us,

nor does his attitude towards migration, or his ability to

speak English. If the alien meets all the visa requirements,

it is irrelevant whether adequate housing and medical

facilities will be available in the city to which he is

migrating, whether his children will have adequate schooling,

- 28 -

and whether he intends to learn English. No consideration

is given to a host of other indicators that point to the

ultimate adaptation, integration and happiness of the

intending immigrant. In contrast, Australia and Canada

are very much concerned with such matters.

Canada

Prevailing numerical limitations in Canada in any

given year are determined by the Department of Manpower

and Immigration. Since 1967 Canada has had a system of

assignment of a variable number of units in certain

qualifying categories with a maximum of one hundred units.

The alien must earn at least 50 units if he is an independent

applicant, unrelated to a Canadian citizen or resident. A

sponsored dependent is not subject to the unit scheme if

he comes by virtue of relationship to a spouse or other

close family member and immigrates solely on the basis of

such relationship. Prospective immigrants having other

relatives in Canada are rated partially on the unit assessment

scale and also receive credits for the relationship.

There are several aspects of the Canadian system that

are of interest. Qualifications considered are not only

the demand for the prospective immigrant's occupation, but

also his level of skill, whether he has pre-arranged employment,

or an occupation in which there are unfillable shortages so

that a job opportunity is assured. Twenty points are

- - 29 -

awarded for education and training, 15 for personal

qualities and 10 for age.

Under one policy, a prospective immigrant with

five years of education and training is on a par with one

with fifteen years. Unlike the Canadians, the United States

makes no distinction as to whether the intending immigrant

is between the ages of 18 and 35 or between the ages of

36 and 44. The Canadian system gives as much as 10 points

for a knowledge of English or French. Our policy is not

concerned with knowledge of English except insofar as it

might be essential in the job for which the alien has a

labor certification.

Canada awards five additional units depending upon

the area of destination. This is undoubtedly related to

the fact that approximately half of all immigrants coming

to Canada are destined for the Province of Ontario and

one half of those settle in the City of Toronto. Canada

feels a desperate need to develop large unpopulated areas.

Therefore an immigrant who is willing to settle in remote

areas is accorded appropriate recognition.

Australia

The Minister of Immigration in Australia controls

the number of aliens admitted annually. Applicants are

designated through the Australian Selection Assessment

System. To be approved the applicant must establish that

he will be economically viable in Australia, that he is

medically fit and has a satisfactory character record

- 30 -

and personal qualities that will fit into the Australian

community, and that he has a sincere intention of making

a permanent home in Australia and of becoming a citizen.

Interviewing officers make firm selection recommendations

after considering the size and composition of the applicant's

family, the presence of relatives (if any) in Australia

and the extent and degree of support and assistance likely

to be required from the government after arrival. The

latter is not unlike our statutory grounds of ineligibility

(section 212{a) {15)) which applies when the consular officer

has reason to believe that the applicant is likely at any

time to become a public charge. The alien's attitude

towards migration, expectations in Australia, responsiveness,

initiative, self-reliance, independence, appearance, personal

hygiene, speech and behavior as well as his family unity

all are relevant to the assessment. Unlike Canada, Australia

has no fixed score on the overall assessment that will insure

approval. It is understood that selection for immigration

is founded strictly on the economic conditions and labor

market needs of Australia and the whole selection process is

geared to deny the immigration of all but those persons who

will most benefit the country.

Exempt from the assessment procedure for humanitarian

reasons are the spouses, dependent children and aged or

- 31 -

otherwise dependent parents of Australian residents.

Residents of Australia can also sponsor other close

relatives and other people with recognized qualifications

of experience which will fulfill community needs subject

to their qualification under a limited administrative

assessment system.

Canadian and Australian immigration systems, then,

vest almost unabridged discretionary powers in selection

officers who determine qualifications which are based on

highly subjective criteria. However a central goal, that

of labor market participation and contribution, is

effectively implemented in these countries.

- 32 -

D. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Although the United States is a nation of immigrants,

policy which has determined who may enter has embodied

formidable restrictions, qualitative as well as quantitative,

intended to prevent open migration to this country. Our present

law, which was passed in 1952 and substantially amended in

1965, incorporates four main goals: family reunification,

immigration of individuals with needed skills and abilities,

asylum for refugees, and control of visitors. In fact, the

act works to have one major goal, family reunification,

and three lesser goals. Most immigrants today are selected

wholly on the basis of their family ties to U.S. citizens

or permanent resident aliens with no consideration for their

role or impact in the labor market or society in general.

Although provisions for obtaining needed skills and talents

represent one important goal of the current law, the labor

certification program for implementing that goal has only

minimal impact in providing permanent or temporary workers.

In contrast, Canada and Australia, countries with immigration

histories most similar to our own, effectively treat labor

market needs as a major feature of their immigration systems.

As a nation we are experiencing a 100% increase in

the number of immigrants since 1965 (about 400,000 per year)

as compared with the 1924-1965 period (about 190,000 per year).

In addition, immigrant source countries have changed markedly

resulting in a basic ethnic shift in our immigration away

- 33 -

from Europe in favor of Latin America and Asia. Pressure

to immigrate from these areas is intense with several

high demand countries having up to two-year waiting

periods for immigrant visa issuance. Such backlogs

contribute to illegal immigration streams from these

nations.

When the 1965 amendments were passed, a numerical

ceiling was placed on Western Hemisphere immigration for

the first time, however neither a preference system nor

per country limits were applied as in the case of the

Eastern Hemisphere. Abolishing the national origin quota

and controlling Eastern Hemisphere entry were the overriding

legislative considerations. Virtually no analysis or

discussion prompted the final hour Western Hemisphere

ceiling provision. Thus the statutory framework within

which illegal immigration occurs and is defined was

developed in order to eliminate past injustices from the

law rather than to establish policy or definitions for

meeting society's needs for immigration over future years.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Legislation should be passed by Congress which

would extend the preference system and per country

- limits to the Western Hemisphere so that immigration

opportunities within each hemisphere are more nearly

equalized.*

*See Footnote, p. 241.

----------------·-------------

- 34 -

2. Replace the present case-by-case certification

procedures with a system to make determinations

more reflective of labor market conditions as

indicated by data and information.

3. A thorough study of the effects of the Immigration

and Nationality Act should be made as the basis for

proposing fundamental statutory revisions which set

immigration levels and qualifications in relation

to current and anticipated future labor market needs

of the society.

- 35 -

CHAPTER II ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: THE GLOBAL PICTURE

To formulate a comprehensive understanding and approach

to the phenomenon of illegal immigration requires examination

of the forces which create and perpetuate migrations of

people. This chapter will examine the demand from other

nations to immigrate to the u.s. followed by an analysis

of illegal alien sending countries, migration theory, and

the foreign relations issues which must be considered.

A. WHO WANTS TO COME? - IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES

The impetus to migrate is in varying degrees accommodated

through the immigration laws and system described in Chapter

I. We can measure the demand to immigrate through (a)

statistical data relating to immigrant visa issuance, and

(b) the numbers of aliens registered on immigrant visa

waiting lists. These groups of aliens have met the initial

qualifying tests of establishing the existence of a qualifying

family preference relationship or obtaining a labor certificate

for proposed employment. The only difference between the

groups is that immigrant visa numbers have become available

for final action for the former group but not yet for the

latter. For each hemisphere, waiting lists are maintained

in chronological order.

Western Hemisphere

The Visa Office of the Department of State statistically

groups the Western Hemisphere countries into two sub-groups:

- 36 -

North American (including the Caribbean Islands and

Central America to Panama) and South America. During 6/

the period 1969 to 1975, the breakdown between these

sub-groups was: 7/

North America average - 83,737 visas issued: and

South America average - 15,783 visas issued.

The total population of North American countries

is about 112,000,000 and the total for South America is

204,000,000. The difference in average visas issued

shows rather dramatically that North America is the

principal source of immigration to the United States

from the Western Hemisphere with Mexico (almost 50% of

the total}, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Haiti

as the major source countries.

For immigrant visa applicants registered as of

January 1, 1976, the same principle holds: almost 250,000

of the 300,000 total Western Hemisphere registrants come

from North America (other than Cuba). In this group,

Mexico is even more predominant, constituting about

two-thirds. Within the Western Hemisphere therefore,

major sources of documented demand for immigration are

6/ First full year of hemispheric ceiling restriction of 120,000 for Western Hemisphere. 7/ Excluding Cuba which constitutes a special case and whose Immigration figures do not represent a normal outflow.

- 37 -

Mexico and the Caribbean area, while demand from mainland

South America is relatively minor.

Eastern Hemisphere

The Visa Office divides the Eastern Hemisphere into

four regions: Africa, Asia (including the Middle East),

Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and several other

island nations in the Pacific Ocean), and Europe. Documented

demand from Oceania is very small, averaging less than

2,000 per year in 1969 to 1975. Immigration from Africa

has also been small during the period, averaging about

5,300, although it has been increasing. Thus both regions

have been negligible sources of immigration.

Asia and Europe, however, are significant sources of

immigration, with high annual averages during the 1969 to

1975 period: Asia, 83,234 and Europe, 78,345. Although

Asia and Europe are roughly equal, these average figures

hide an important shift over the period. In 1969 Europe

exceeded Asia as a source of immigration in a ratio of

about 3:2 (97,393 to 65,935). Annual declines in immigration

from Europe and annual increases in immigration from Asia

have virtually reversed this ratio so that in 1975 immigra­

tion from Asia reached 98,996 and immigration from Europe

had fallen to 61,386, a major shift in patterns of immigra­

tion.

- 38 -

Four countries account for 76.1% of Asian immigration

since 1969: China, India, Korea and the Philippines. Under

existing legislation however, this process of increase

cannot continue. Of the four countries concerned, three

(China, Korea and the Philippines) have already reached

the maximum annual foreign state limitation of 20,000 per

year. Moreover, India reached almost 16,000 in 1975, and

any increase will be limited to about 4,000. Additional

demand will simply build up an annual backlog which will

mean a waiting period of months or years for new applicants.

The January 1, 1976 annual report of aliens registered

on immigrant visa waiting lists shows that of the 225,000

registrants reported, over 160,000 were from Asia with

about 55,000 from Europe. A case in point is the Philippines

where over 100,000 applicants are registered. The foreign

state limitation prevents visa issuance above 20,000 unlike

the Western Hemisphere which has no individual state

limitations on independent countries.

Thus documented demand for and immigration to the

U.S. today rests principally with Mexico, the countries

of the Caribbean and Central America, Korea, the Philippines

and China.

- 39 -

B. MAJOR ILLEGAL ALIEN SOURCE COUNTRIES

Fifteen countries comprise the major illegal alien

source countries. They are Mexico, the Dominican Republic,

Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, the

Philippines, Korea, Thailand, Greece, India, Iran and 8/

Nigeria.- With few exceptions, the countries from which

the majority of legal immigrants today come and which

exhibit the greatest documented demand for legal immigra-

tion are also the countries from which the majority of

illegal entrants come. While our knowledge of the illegal

entrant is largely limited to information which can be

developed about apprehended illegal aliens, it is safe to

conclude that those countries which have a large documented

demand for immigration also have a great hidden demand

which is producing illegal entry to the U.S.

Illegal migration to the U.S. is from a variety of

countries in the less developed world primarily in Latin

America and Asia. The notion that the illegal problem is

a Mexican problem is mistaken and represents a narrow view

of the issue even though Mexico is probably the largest

single sending country.

8/ This list, developed by the Foreign Relations task force, Is based on data from the refusal/deportation/visa issuance statistics of the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

- 40 -

The countries from which illegal aliens come have

similar characteristics in several important respects.

These characteristics constitute significant push forces

which, when combined with equally strong pull forces at

another point, result in major movements of people or

migration.

International Push-Pull

The push to migrate is primarily determined by the

economic characteristics of the points of origin and

destination including wages, unemployment and industrial

growth. Social and demographic factors such as educational

facilities, housing, population density, and personal

characteristics of the migrant are involve~ however

employment differences have proven to be the dominant

driving force.

The composite picture of illegal alien sending

countries is one of depressed economic conditions for the

vast majority of people with large-scale rural to urban

internal migrations underway. The economies of these

countries are unable to provide employment for large

segments of the skilled, semi-skilled and even professional

population. Furthermore, there exist inadequate community

services, including educational facilities, and a general

lack of social mobility as well as very high population

growth rates. Political instability or a perceived sense

of impending political violence may also be a factor.

- 41 -

Specific examples, drawn from country reports prepared

by the Foreign Relations task force, illustrate the push

factor.

"PERU although rich in minerals is a poor country, with most of its 16 million population earning little better than subsistence level livings at agriculture, mining and fishing."

"COLOMBIA's per capita income of $510 disguises the fact that rural living standards are very low, many people live on subsistence agriculture, urban pressures include marginal masses, and the existence of a 10% unemployment rate."

"In addition, INDIA's many schools and universities, some of which are quite good, turn out a large number of educated unemployed, and the prospects for improvement in the employment picture are not good in the short or medium term. "

"The results have been increasing disparities between the developmental levels of the [ECUADORIAN] cities and the countryside, greater rural emigration which has exacerbated urban unemployment and under­employment, inflation rates which have cut the buying power of the poor and created even greater social distances between the mainstream and the large and back­ward Indian population which exists only on the margin of the cash economy."

"Although the rate of population growth has decreased significantly in the past decade under government-sponsored control programs to a 1975 level of 1.7% and is still falling, the number of KOREANS entering the labor force annually as a result of higher growth rates in earlier years remains high."

"[IRAN's] rapid rise in oil earnings that started in 1973 triggered an acceleration in development efforts that has overstrained the existing infrastructure."

"Although MEXICO's economic development in the 1960's and 1970's was the highest in any country in Latin America, the fruits of that growth do not benefit the segment of the population attracted to the U.S. Labor Market."

- 42 -

Pull factors in the United States are derived from

the economic and technological disparity between the developed

nations (one-fourth) of the world and the underdeveloped

majority. Some evidence indicates that the native u.s.

population has become so educated and upwardly mobile

that many are unwilling to take lower paying, low status

or disagreeable jobs. These jobs are willingly taken by

workers from other countries and u.s. employers are anxious

to hire unskilled foreign-born labor because it is cheap

and industrious. This availability of work and the lack of

sanctions for hiring illegal aliens is the single most

important incentive to migration creating the pull portion

of the equation. For people from other nations the u.s.

remains a land of economic opportunity hospitable to those

who would work hard to improve their circumstances. This

lure, whether accurate or not, is enhanced by better

opportunity for schooling and training for themselves and

their children, and improved living conditions. The

heterogeneity of the U.S. population makes it relatively

easy to find acceptance in combination with cultural and

historical affinity between estalbished ethnic groups in

the u.s. and the sending countries. 9/

"Our common 2,000- mile border with MEXICO is unique in that nowhere else on earth does a political boundary separate two major countries with greater economic disparity."

9/ The U.S.-Mexican border is 1945.86 miles as determined by the u.s. Geological Survey. A rounded figure of 2,000 miles will be used in this report.

- 43 -

"As against a u.s. per capita GNP now exceedip.g $5,000 per year, the PHILIPPINE per capita GNP, at current prices, reached only $368 in 1975."

"Some employers also prefer MEXICAN illegal workers for some occupations because they form a more passive supply of labor than more mobile native workers -- they tend to work •scared and hard 1

."

"COLOMBIANS, in general, and the poorer classes in particular, have come to view the United States as a relatively accessible land, of high living standards, upward social mobility, and unlimited opportunity."

"Despite GREECE's economic growth and European Economic Community ties, the U.S. will still remain a strong drawer of GREEK immigrants primarily because of the size of the Greek-American community and because of the importance of family and religious ties."

Illegal alien source countries share essentially three

common characteristics which seem to operate in combination

to produce illegal migration. The pattern which emerges

is one which will, given current trends and policies, apply

to increasing numbers of countries in the world over the

coming decades.

1. Rapid Economic Expansion

The source countries tend to show signs of rapid economic growth and expansion and do not rank with the very poorest nations in the world. This. is to be expected as individuals in the poorest nations have too few skills, too little knowledge of the u.s., and too few resources to attempt migration. Accompanying growth in source countries has frequently been a persistent mal-distribution of income so that the benefits of expansion have not accrued to all geographic or economic groups in the population.

Thus, expectations have often risen faster than has the capacity to fulfill them. If this pattern is an inevitable aspect of rapid economic growth, we can expect more nations to be involved in the future.

- 44 -

2. High Population Growth Rates

These countries have high rates of population growth with the majority being young. Thus large numbers of people are and will be seeking employment in the future. Annual population growth rates of 2.5, 3.0, and 3.5% tend to offset gains made toward the creation of adequate numbers of jobs, the most important development challenge facing these countries.

Emigration serves as a stop gap measure contri­buting to the postponement, to some extent, of necessary source country changes. While providing a safety valve, it also has definite draw backs for the sending countries. Migration is inevitably selective. Although the education level of migrants is on the average somewhat lower than that of native Americans, it is usually higher than that of the natives in the sending countries. Emigration removes people of productive age and leaves behind children and old people thereby raising the underdeveloped country's already high dependency ratio. The value of remittances sent back home may partly compensate for those losses, but the remittances are often uncertain. When they come, they are spent largely on consumer items rather than directed toward capital formation.

As the source countries become still more crowded, there will be increasing pressure for emigration. Generally speaking, however, the problems of under­developed source countries are beyond solution by emigration. Should the United States try to accept as migrants the excess population growth of these countries, we would be dealing with the following figures:

Total Population

1976 2000

United States 215,300,000 262,500,000

Source Countries 976,000,000 1,743,200,000

- 45 -

The world's first billion inhabitants were produced by around 1850. By 1930 there were 2 billion. By 1961 world population reached 3 billion. Fifteen years were required to pass 4 billion and at present growth, 5 billion will be reached in 13 years. Latin America has the world's most rapid rate of growth with a population exceeding 326 million. It will enter the 21st centruy with well over one-half a billion people (606 million), having taken only 25 years to double its population at today's growth rate.

3. Links With the u.s.

Cultural or historical links between the u.s. and the source countries appear to be a necessary ingredient in illegal immigration. A migration stream is sustained by positive reports, generally by word of mouth, of conditions, both economic and personal, in the host country. Links develop through u.s. cultural saturation of source countries, e.g., wartime presence in Korea or the Philippines, or through the existence of ethnically familiar communities in the U.S. Concentra­tions of legal immigrants are by no means necessarily supportive of or involved in illegal immigration. However, their very existence creates conditions of cultural familiarity and psychic support which are important factors in sustaining migration streams.

Push and pull forces act cumulatively to create intense

pressure for migration to the U.S. When it ca,nnot be

accommodated through authorized means, it may turn to

clandestine means for the policies and resources which seek

to contain it are not nearly so strong or fundamental as

those which operate to nurture it.

- 46 -

MAJOR ILLEGAL ALIEN SOURCE COUNTRIES

=-~I

c Cl)

C. Cl) e 0 I .... _

cll.l· 0 c ::: ::l, as en o.·-_,

en::' I u- ~- c ec .e . II) .f! ~ 61,9 -o ...,._(_ .... Ql (IJ ll)tll ..... _ I'Dr:l t'l(IJ ·-... c O:J m= - :.t . Cl.l- 2o cEii=l ~21 w·- :lc:!>:J! a..: :Jcu "5

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,!90.., ·--I 1i1~ -.c ... -- .... ,a.g C.r:~l -o - o-1 _8..!!! ~0 CG «< • C: ~.§I :P"" s::. E'§l :Jo :;cu! u

COUNTRY o.-t, «12 1 :lO; O.N o.> I ~ ~ --I o·-,

0 01 Ot.n ... 0. 0 r:l '

0.. ::i I C:Cl' zc: c.._ a..... :;) - a..z: I I

USA (Reference) · 215.3 0.8 87 262.5 27 74 6,640

Mexico . 62.3 3.5 20 134.4 46 61 1,.000 Dominican Republic 4.8 3~0 23 10.8 48 40 590 Haiti. 4.6 1.6 43 . 7.1 41 20 140 Jamaica 2.1 1.9 36 2.8 46 37 1,140 Guatemala . 5. 7 2.8 25 11.1 44 34 570 Colombia 23.0 3.2 22 44.3 46 64 510 Peru 16.0 2.9 24 30.9 44 60 710 Ecuador 6.9 3.2 22 14.0 47 39 460

Philippines 44.0 3.0 23 86.3 43 32 310 Korea 34.8 2.0 35 52.3 40 41 470 Thailand 43.3 2.5 28 86.0 45 13 300

Greece 9.0 0.4 173 9.7 25 53 1, 970

India 620.7 2.0 35 1,051.4 40 20 130 Iran 34.1 3.0 23 67.0 47 43 1,060

Nigeria 64.7 2.7 26. 135~1 45 16 240

Population D~ta: Population Reference Bureau, Washington, D.C.

; ... . --...-~-·· --· .; ~ ..

- 47 -

The Migration Phenomenon

The combination of push forces at a point of origin

and pull forces at a point of destination result in

migration, a complex phenomenon involving demographic, lQ./

anthropological, economic and political interrelationships.

Peoples have been in movement for all of recorded history

drifting from place to place in response to social, political,

and economic factors. As these factors change over time,

patterns of migration change. Migration is both internal

to countries and external. While our interest rests with

external or outcountry migration, the distinction between

in and out-country migration is not primary. Rather,

" migration is the playing out of forces among which national

boundaries is a secondary, not a controlling factor.

Given the push-pull construct as the underlying basis : "j

for individual decisions to migrate, migration as a ,'.

phenomenon exhibits common, predictable features.

1. Migration tends to take place largely within well defined streams.

2. For every major migration stream, a smaller counterstream develops. Some migrants intend to return: others return because of difficulties in re-settling.

3. The net migration is high when conditions at the destination are favorable in comparison to those at the origin.

10/ See Weaver, Thomas and Downing, Theodore E., ed., Mexican Migration, University of Arizona, 1976, for a full discussion.

\. , __ ..

·D

- 48 -

4. Migrants tend to be the more highly motivated and able individuals from the areas they leave.

5. The volume of migration increases as the difficulty of the intervening obstacles (distance, expense, natural barriers, laws) lessens.

6. The greater the intervening obstacles, the more highly motivated and able are the migrants.

7. In the absence of severe checks, both volume and rate of migration tend to increase with time.

These general principles provide a framework for

analyzing the policy questions which illegal immigration

presents. If movement into the United States takes place

within well defined streams, our legal immigration may

serve to beget illegal immigration from countries where

the pressure to emigrate is greater than our legpl limits

contemplate. Legal immigration limits are a function of

domestic political considerations and perceived national

interests. However migration streams develop in response

to economic and social forces which our law was never meant

to accommodate. However legal immigration may well set in

motion a self-sustaining process which is guided by its own

momentum instead of by the law which spawned and seeks to

define it.

To recognize the possibility of legal immigration

fostering illegal immigration is not to conclude that

immigration from high demand areas should cease. It does,

- 49 -

however, require careful consideration of what other tools

may be available to influence the migration process. The

rate and nature of migration is. strongly influenced by the

obstacles between origin and destination. Thus we would

expect an easily penetrated land border to be more inviting

than a cross-ocean journey which involves considerable

expense and procurement of documents. Stressing prevention

of entry by making the physical process of coming to the

u.s. more formidable and risky is an obvious approach

which addresses basic principles guiding migration.

To the extent that the obstacles between origin and

destination simply involve physical difficulties related to

gaining entry, they present but one level of an obstacle

strengthening approach. Policy could also recognize the

ease or difficulty of living in the U.S. illegally. In

this regard the availability of work, services, change of

legal status and the likelihood and penalties of being

discovered are important.

The principle of counterstream and net redistribution

of population pursuant to migration also provide tools. If

there is a built in tendency for migrants to return, policies

which encourage return in both host and sending countries

might be developed. Over the long term, narrowing the gap

in conditions between origin and destination will make it

- 50 -

less compelling for migrants. to brave the difficulties of

resettlement •. Experience with Italy-U •. s. migration has

had an interesting history in this regard. Until recently

the pressure to emigrate from Italy had been intense

displaying all the characteristics and patterns of source­

host country relationships discussed earlier. However in

recent years the surge has become a trickle and the explana­

tion given by observers relates to the gradual but definite

improvements in living standards that have occurred in

high out-migration areas of Italy. Remaining in Italy

still does not offer the economic opportunity available

in the U.S. However, the gap has been narrowed to a

point where overcoming the financial, cultural and psychic

costs of resettling is attractive to fewer and fewer

would-be immigrants.

Programs directed at the counterstream and net

redistribution principles must also take into consideration

the forces which influence migrants during the settlement

process in a new country. Settlement is discussed in detail

in Chapter VI, however in general it can be said that

migrants who may intend to remain only temporarily in a new

country tend to undergo a basic change in aspirations or

goals rather quickly which causes them to resettle permanently.

- 51 -

Thus settlement pressures may outweigh the incentives

available to ef,'fect significant counterstreams.. A

careful understanding of migration and analysis of the

specific character of the migrations we are currently

experiencing must be sought and utilized by policymakers.

Illegal immigration is a result of international push­

pull forces which are stronger than the law and systems

currently in place to control it. Comprehensive policy

approaches, both short and long term, must be directed

at the ingredients which create push-pull and at the

principles governing the migration phenomenon if they

are to have any reasonable chance of successfully slowing

the illegal alien flow.

- 52 -

C. MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES - A BILATERAL APPROACH

Although. clandes.tine migration is not a. narrowly based

phenomenon limited to few countries or causes, Mexico does

occupy a unique historical and geographical place in the

picture.

The number of Mexican nationals who have legally

emigrated to the United States has steadily increased

over the last decade. During the period from 1963 through

1975, Mexicans constituted at 664,453 the largest group of

legal immigrants to the United States. In 1975, the

62,205 Mexican immigrants·admitted represented approximately

16 percent of the total legal immigration to the United

States, double the second largest national contingent

which was from the Philippines.

However, the Immigration and Naturalization Service

{INS) apprehends and returns to Mexico more undocumented

migrants each year than the total number of people who

emigrate legally to the United States from all nations of

the world. Thus Mexico is our most sizeable current source

of clandestine immigr.ation as well as legal immigration.

Mexico-u.s. comparisons present a classic example of

push-pull factors with the most striking feature being

annual per capita incomes of $700 and $5000, respectively.

Still the case of Mexico is also unique in two important ways.

- 53 -

We share a common 2000 mile border which is

relatively easy to crass ..

Mexican migration to the u.s. is not a recent

development but rather part of a long history

of significant regional cultural commingling

and economic interdependence.

Evaluated within the framework of migration discussed

earlier, these differences are significant. Our common

border is a far less formidable intervening obstacle

than is an ocean and therefore influences the selectivity

of the migration as well as the volume. Time and cultural

receptivity are equally important indicators influencing

migration. The North-Houstoun research, which will be more

fully discussed in Chapter IV, indicates that the Mexican

migration is qualitatively different largely due to the

factors which make Mexico distinct from, rather than similar

to, other illegal alien source countries. This suggests

that a different approach to Mexican clandestine migration

may need to be fashioned although much research must yet

be done in order to understand better the similarities and

differences which are relevant to policy. It also suggests

that bilateral negotiations and cooperation should be sought.

- 54 -

Undocumented Mexican migration raises difficult issues

for the governments of both Mexico and the u.s. Mexican spokes­

men cite the unreliability of the illegal alien data base which

is disseminated by official American sources as a major concern.

They wish to insure that the legal, labor and human rights of

their nationals in the U.S. are fully protected. Mexico has

recently established several significant internal resettlement

efforts directed at Mexican workers from areas of high rural

out-migration. These programs rely on rural development

through labor intensive employment schemes. Any sudden return

to Mexico of large numbers of undocumented workers would

exacerbate already serious internal employment problems.

The United States hopes for increased enforcement of

extant Mexican laws and regulations directed at immigration to

this country. Examples are:

ensuring that persons leaving Mexico do so through

a designated place of departure.

increased enforcement directed against Mexican or

American smugglers of illegal aliens.

identification of persons in the border areas who

are there solely for the purpose of surreptitiously

entering the United States.

preventing nationals from third countries from using

Mexico as a means of illegally entering the United

States.

- 55 -

While such measures would help to slow the flow of

Mexican illegal aliens, they do not address the underlying

causes. For the long term much more must be known about the

dimensions, characteristics, and impacts of Mexico-u.s.

migration to develop effective approaches.

Proposals for joint action should be directed at law

enforcement and criminal abuse of undocumented workers as well

as at relevant economic, trade, investment and labor matters.

U.S.-Mexico Discussions

The problem of the illegal Mexican migration is currently

being discussed by the U.S. Inter-Agency Committee for the

Study of Problems Related to the Illegal Migration of Mexican

Aliens Into the U.S. 11/ and the Mexican Commission on Undocu­

mented Workers. These groups, established as an outgrowth of

President Ford's meeting with President Echeverria in October,

1974, last met in a joint plenary session in Washington, D.C.,

April 19, 20, 21, 1976. Follow-up sessions have since been

held at several border sites. The work of these groups repre-

sents initial steps toward meeting the serious need for

cooperative efforts between the governments of both nations.

11/ Serves as Foreign Relations task force of Domestic Council Committee on Illegal Aliens.

- 56 -

Other Countries

With. the possible recent exception oi; Mexicof the

control of illegal immigration has not been an item of

concern to u.s. policymakers in the governance of our

relations with sending countries.. The State Department's

country policy papers, which outline u.s. policy goals

for the major sending countries, do not in any case cite

illegal emigration as an issue although several accord

priority to establishing effective visa issuing processes.

Bureaucratic expertise or resources with regard to migra­

tion and related issues are sparse at best. Research

monies in the international area are not commonly directed

at the relationship between migration and other foreign

policy goals. The research which is available and which

is discussed in Chapter IV indicates that there may be

significant differences between Mexican migration and that

of the Caribbean and Central American countries. Very

likely the influx from the Philippines poses important

variations to the theme as well.

Illegal immigration must be accorded a far higher and

more generalized level of attention in the conduct of foreign

affairs. Illegal emigration is not simply a consular matter

but a central feature of development in a significant number

of countries. While the issue encompasses a somewhat unique

blend of foreign and domestic policy concerns, this combination

has appeared before in such areas as drugs for example.

- 57 -

Slowing the flow of illegal aliens will require new

policies in both the domestic and foreign relations areas.

Understanding and cooperation from sending countries is

critical. Steps to establish bilateral discussion and

joint cooperation must be significantly expanded to

include all the major source countries and the issue of

illegal emigration must in and of itself as well as through

the attendant issues of family planning, rural develop­

ment, employment policies and the like, receive greater

foreign policy emphasis.

- 58 -

D. COMPETING FOREIGN RELATIONS PRIORITIES

Strict Visa Issuance Controls

To pursue a policy of actively discouraging illegal

immigration from within source countries would impinge on

certain established practices and policy goals. The

most obvious is our long-established goal of promoting

student and visitor travel.

What would be the result if the u.s. Government were

to exercise its sovereign right to adopt a more effective

visa issuing and port of entry admission posture? This

would include more careful screening out of fraudulent

applicants who misrepresent their real intent to work and

remain in the United States with false claims or documents.

Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act

clearly spells out that "Every alien shall be presumed

to be an immigrant until he establishes to the satisfaction

of the consular officer •• and the immigration officers

that he is entitled to a nonimmigrant status." If this

basic provision of the law were vigorously and thoroughly

enforced, visa refusal rates and exclusion statistics for

the illegal alien source countries would doubtless rise

sharply.

The State Department believes that our relations with

the source countries would not be noticeably affected if

-- 59 -

controls of ineligible aliens were tightened somewhat on a

worldwide, non-discriminatory basis.. Even in the event of

a significant increase of visa refusal and exclusion rates,

while there might be some souring of local attitude toward

the United States within certain elements of the local

populace, there would in all probability be no immediate

effect on intergovernmental relations. Imposition of

control measures with real teeth or outright exclusion,

however, could cause serious repercussions, especially in

Mexico, and to a lesser degree in the Caribbean area and

the Philippines. As a current u.s. foreign relations

priority, an effective visa issuing process varies within

the source countries. This function is inadequately stressed

in current u.s. foreign country policy goals.

Tourism

Imposition of stricter travel controls could adversely

affect the mission of the United States Travel Service (USTS)

as stated in the 1961 International Travel Act:

(1) develop, plan and carry out a comprehensive program

designed to stimulate and encourage travel to the

u.s. by residents of foreign countries for the

purpose of study, culture, recreation, business,

and other activities as a means of promoting

friendly understanding and goodwill among the

people of foreign countries and the U.S.; and

- 60 -

(21 encourage the simplification, reduction, or

elimination of barriers to travel, and facilita­

tion of international travel generally.

USTS argues that actions which would frustrate or

impede the flow of bonafide tourists into the u.s. --

for example the prescription of more stringent tests of

non-immigrant status for visa applicants, the imposition

of travel controls on persons entering, or intending to

enter, the country legally, or the settling of a rigid

rejection rate objective, by country, for visa applications

-- would conflict with national tourism policy and affect

the Travel Service's ability to carry out its responsibilities.

Tourism is an important element of U.S. trade in goods

and services, and according to USTS accounted for an

estimated $5.5 billion in foreign exchange earnings in

1975. USTS estimates that every $15,000 in tourism receipts

creates or supports one job. Expenditures by international

visitors supported about 366,000 American jobs in 1975.

Whether or not strengthened controls will decrease

the number of bona fide tourists is an important issue.

USTS points qut that any significant changes to control

the flow of illegal aliens must take into account an awareness

of the economic benefits of tourism, the legitimate interests

of the tourism industry (including labor) and the intent of

the Congress in passing the International Travel Act of 1961.

- 61 -

Other priorities in overseas investment programs,

development efforts and the li.ke very likely come into

play. In the long term exploration and analysis of the

inter-relatedness of emigration .and a wide range of foreign

policy goals and practices is needed.

- 62 -

E. CONCLUSIONS AND R.ECOWJ!ENDATIONS

The. dema.nd to immigrate legally to the United States

is intense i.n Mexico, several· Caribbean and Central

American nations, the Philippines and Korea. These are

also prominent among the 15 major illegal alien sending

countries. When the pressure to emigrate cannot be met

through authorized means, it may become clandestine for

the push forces creating it are stronger than the official

policies or systems established to contain it.

The economic push due to a lack of jobs and economic

opportunity in source countries is met by strong pull

forces in the U.S. The major attraction for illegal

immigration is available work. The illegal entrant

risks detection but the risk is not great enough to

prevent significant numbers from coming. This combination

of international push and pull forces is the basic cause

of illegal immigration. Some tools around which to

develop new policies are suggested by the principles

which describe the phenomenon of migration, principally

the deterrent potential of increased obstacles.

Illegal alien sending countries exhibit striking

similarities in the areas of economic expansion, population

growth, and links with the u.s. These characteristics

operate in concert to produce migration which functions

as a safety valve for the sending country and contributes to

postponement of necessary change. Under current conditions

- 63 -

in the u.s. and abroad the potential number of aliens

involved is staggering. If pressure to emigrate to the

u.s. is indeed a function of certain patterns of development,

we can expect to add other countries to the source list in

the future.

Although Mexico is not the sole source of illegal

entrants, it is the major source. Bilateral discussions

between the u.s. and Mexican governments have been initiated

and working prop~sals on law enforcement, criminal abuse

of Mexican nationals and relevant economic issues are

being developed. Solutions to the illegal alien problem

must include cooperation and support from source country

governments. Bilateral discussions must be greatly expanded.

In addition, control of illegal immigration must become

a more central concern to U.S. policymakers in the conduct

of our foreign relations. This means that some conflicts

with other foreign affairs goals, such as promotion of

travel and study in the U.S., need to be considered.

Recommendations

1. State Department Contribution to Research

A major u.s. Government research effort aimed

at filling in the extensive knowledge gaps regarding the

flow of illegal aliens should be supported, with interagency

coordination. For example, the Department of State should

develop a correlation analysis for those factors that have

- 64 -

been identified as common to most source countries. This

should be specifically structured to extrapolate data

capable of predicting future flows of illegal migration.

2. Continuation and Expansion of u.S ./Mexico Dialogue

Useful discussions between the u.s. Interagency

Committee on Illegal Aliens and the Mexican Inter-

Secretarial Commission have been held. Such meetings

and exchanges must be continued and established with other

sending nations. Future meetings should include intensified

cooperation between u.s. and Mexican immigration officials,

establishing working groups to deal with operational problems

and developing proposals for economic policies.

3. Establish Position in State to Coordinate Illegal Migration Matters

The State Department should establish a full-time

position and resources for overseeing worldwide efforts at

slowing the flow of illegal aliens. The magnitude and

spread of illegal migration calls for an intrafunctional

approach involving political and economic personnel and

resources in addition to the techniques utilized in

traditional consular procedures. The migration officer

would also act as liaison officer for State with INS and the

Domestic Council Committee on Illegal Aliens.

i j

-- 65 -

4. Develop Strategies Aimed at Push-Pull Forces

The relationship between push-pull, migration

theory, individual source co'untry patterns of economic

growth, and U.S. foreign relations with those countries

must be thoroughly analysed and re-evaluated. We must

develop strategies and programs which address the basic

themes of push-pull and migration recognizing that

fundamental changes, difficult for governments to control

in the short term, must be sought.

- 66 -

CHAPTER III - LAW ENFORCE)m:NT

Today the enforcement of this nation's immigration

laws is largely directed at the problem of illegal immi­

gration. To understand enforcement issues, one must

separate the migration of undocumented workers from

Mexico, which has its antecedents during World War I,

from the more recent phenomenon of a movement of labor

from certain less developed nations to the U.S. The

latter has only begun to manifest itself since the mid-

1960's, and involves, based on the evidence to date,

several migration streams from various parts of the world.

A. BACKGROUND

Mexico

Basic to the issue of Mexican immigration into the

United States is the nature of the border between the two

nations. The entire region which now encompasses our

boundary once belonged to Spain and later to Mexico.

Originally explored and colonized by Spanish-speaking

people, it was developed by them for almost three hundred

years before a definite boundary was drawn giving to the

United States that portion generally north of the Rio Grande.

The border, established without regard to either the ethnic

composition or the economy of the people within the region,

has been called one of the most unrealistic borders in the

Western Hemisphere.

- 67 -

Legally, immigration is "the passing or moving into a

country with a purpose of permanent residence." When

applied to the border, the place of residence is the region,

and thousands of Mexican people have been accustomed to live

in the area for generations. The permanence of residence

is not destroyed by the mere crossing of a line which is

for the most part imaginary, regardless of the side of that

line upon which one happened to be born. Unlike immigrants

from Europe and the rest of the world, the Mexican has no

great psychological or physical obstacles in the path of

his migration. Culturally and economically, the northern

States of the Republic of Mexico are in many respects

similar to the Southwest region of this country.

In a sense, then, the cultural basis for the current

situation in our Southwest was established after the

Mexican-American War of 1846. Through the Treaty of

Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States annexed most of the

territory which now comprises the states of Arizona,

California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, as well as

smaller parts of Nevada and Utah. Under the terms of this

treaty, all Mexican citizens living within this area were

to become citizens of the United States if they did not

- 68 -

leave the newly acquired territory within one year or

declare their intent to retain Mexican citizenship.

Few chose to leave.

Very little immigration across this new political

boundary took place until the turn of the century.

Between 1910 and 1917, 150,000 Mexicans emigrated to the

u.s. largely as a result of violence accompanying the

Mexican civil war. With the advent of the First world

War, the United States faced certain labor shortages.

Not only agriculture, but railroad and mining interests

required an available supply of cheap labor. The

Secretary of Labor authorized immigration officials to

exempt illiterate temporary Mexican farm workers from the

immigrant qualifications and head tax provisions of the

Immigration Act of 1917. A rapidly industrializing America

as well as the nomadic life thrust upon Mexican agricultural

workers combined to induce movement into many cities of the

Midwest and Northwest. Although the largest number

remained in the Southwest, significant enclaves of Mexicans

were established in a number of Midwestern cities.

The dispersion continued until the Great Depression

when approximately 200,000 Mexicans, who had entered without

documentation, were repatriated. Special efforts were made

to locate and remove illegal Mexican aliens. In fact, the

J

- 69 -

campaign became so zealous that certain numbers of persons

of Mexican ancestry -- usually with some form of legal

equity -- were induced to repatriate themselves by

"voluntarily" returning to Mexico. Stopping welfare pay­

ments was one device used to aid in this effort. Much

of the latent antagonism of Mexican-American communities

toward the Immigration and Naturalization Service and its

agent, the Border Patrol, which was created in 1924, has

its origin in this unhappy period.

The Bracero Program

World War II again brought war-related labor shortages

which prompted this country to seek an arrangement with the

Government of Mexico for the temporary importation of

workers. In August, 1942, a formal agreement between

Mexico and the United States was negotiated and the action

launched the Mexican Labor Program, better known as the

Bracero Program, under which Mexican labor was to be

provided for agricultural and railroad laborer jobs.

Provisions of the contract stipulated that workers were to

be afforded protections in housing, transportation, food,

medical services, and wage rights.

The Bracero Program was to terminate in 1947, however,

it was continued informally until 1951. In that year, it

was formalized as Public Law 78, and the agreement for

- 70 -

Mexico to provide laborers to work in the American rural

labor markets remained in effect until terminated on

December 31, 1964.

Operation Wetback

Illegal Mexican migration increased during the

Bracero years because employers, dissatisfied with the

Bracero Program, sought to maximize their profits. Texas

farmers, because of Mexico's refusal to extend the Bracero

Program into their state for a time, probably hired more

illegal ·Mexican aliens than any other state. As a result,

the Border Patrol launched Operation Wetback in 1953-54,

and nearly 1 million apprehensions of clandestine Mexicans

were made in one year.

Some contend that a major function of the Border

Patrol in this period was to regulate through selective

enforcement rather than by apprehension and exclusion.

Certainly one controversial practice of this era was the

so-called "wringing out wetbacks." Under this practice,

Mexican illegal aliens were returned to Mexico, if only

temporarily, and subsequently recruited and returned under

contract with employers in the United States. With the

conclusion of Operation Wetback, the apprehension of size­

able numbers of illegal aliens along the border fell signi­

ficantly until the termination of the Bracero Program in

- 71 -

December of 1964. For the period following Operation

Wetback, 1956-65, total apprehensions averaged less than

50,000 annually.

The Contemporary Problem

The forces which created and sustained the "Bracero"

program continue to persist. There continues to be an

economic demand induced by some employers in the United

States for Mexican workers. That demand is being met by 12/

commuters and illegal aliens.

During recent years, along with the high population

growth rate, there has been a major movement of people

within Mexico from rural areas into Mexico City and

northern border towns. Mexico City, for example, 15 to

20 years ago had a population of approximately 1-1/2

million. It has now burgeoned to an estimated 10-13

million.

Conditions in the u.s. border towns appear to be

particularly relevant. Economic conditions there are un-

favorable, unemployment being estimated in the 30 to 40

percent range, and wages at the subsistence level. While

there is variance from town to town for those employed,

wages are never more than one-third the minimum in the

United States.

l2/ In December 1975 there were about 54,000 commuters working legally in the United States, 45,000 of whom were from Mexico.

- 72 -

Prospects of available employment, of course, are the

major attraction drawing illegal workers into the United

States. Migration by the Mexican is also enhanced by the

Bracero experiences of friends and relatives and by ties of

cultural affinity existing for many generations between

Mexican-Americans (Chicanos) and Mexicans. Although

divergent political and economic realities on either side

of the border have often caused antagonistic feelings

between these two groups, mutually shared cultural values,

including a common language, remain.

Traditionally, illegal Mexican migration was a

relatively localized situation. It is now spreading far

from the border to those areas that were settled in the

early part of this century by immigrants from Mexico such

as Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City and St. Louis.

In addition, current migration is much more heavily

institutionalized than that of the past. A significant

number of professions, agencies, and individuals live off

of promoting migration to the United States. Some

examples would be border-town taxi companies and mini-buses

that make the run to Chicago, San Francisco, Denver,

Dallas, and other cities, forever soliciting a full comple­

ment of passengers, including women, children, and old folks,

as well as "tourists" and "shoppers" whose request for a

- 73 -

visitor's visa has been turned down by American consuls;

the travel agencies that sell cut-rate tourist excursions

by air direct to the United States or via Puerto Rico or

Canada; the coyotes and enganchistas whose longstanding

business has been to deliver truckloads and busloads of

gullible Mexican jobseekers from the interior of Mexico

to border towns; smuggler rings, involving guides, drivers,

innkeepers, labor agencies, job foremen, fabricators of

false documents, and the like; and certain.predatory lawyers,

immigrant consultants, and public notaries, who work

immigrant hardship cases.

There is ready accessibility to the United States

across our 2,000 mile border which makes policing very

difficult. Late in 1974, about 85 percent of the 1,600

person Border Patrol force was assigned to that border,

leaving the interior relatively unpoliced. As a result,

if the Mexican alien now successfully penetrates the border

region, he is essentially "home free." The very openness,

freedom of movement, absence of controls, and physical size

of the United States and the heterogeneity of the population

make it relatively easy for undocumented migrants to remain

undetected. Escaping detection is substantially enhanced

by the lack of risk or cost for the employer hiring illegal

workers. Although it is against the law for an alien to

- 74 -

enter illegally or remain illegally, it is not against the

law for an employer to hire an undocumented worker.

Normally, if migration is permanent, the sending

country loses some of its productive workers. However,

in the case of Mexico where population levels, aspirations,

and infrastructure development are in disequilibrium, any

Mexican sense of loss may be many years in the future. In

addition to relieving population pressure through the

safety valves of illegal and legal migration, the favorable

effects on international balances of payment for Mexico

from remittances by migrants to their families are consid­

erable.

Other Countries

The Mexican problem involves surreptitious entry around

designated ports of entry across our common land border.

Recently a newer, sometimes less obvious migration of illegal

aliens from a number of Caribbean, Central American and

Asian countries has begun to create a more complex

situation. It involves, for the most part, persons coming

through ports of entry documented as visitors and students,

who then violate the terms of their admission by overstaying

and/or taking employment. As screening for such entrants

increases, these persons are turning to any number of

fraudulent devices in order to gain entry to this country.

- 75 -

Although not entirely accurate because the categories

overlap to some extent, non-Mexican illegals are referred

to as visa abusers whereas Mexican illegals are known as

EWI's (Entry Without Inspection). As discussed in Chapter

II the source countries of visa abusers share many character­

istics in common with Mexico. However the different means

by which the two groups enter pose significantly different,

difficult enforcement problems.

- 76 -

B. PRESENT ENFORCEMENT SYSTEM

The task of preventing the illegal migration of people

into the country falls primarily. to the Immigration and

Naturalization Service (INS). This agency is aided in its

prevention efforts by the State Department which is respon­

sible for the issuance of visas overseas. A number of other

agencies• activities, to a lesser extent, impact on enforce­

ment efforts aimed at illegal aliens. These activities

generally involve actions relating to control over such

persons once they are in the country. These entities are:

the Wage and Hour Enforcement Division of the Department of

Labor, the U.S. Customs Service, the Internal Revenue Service,

and the Social Security Administration.

In enforcing the nation's immigration laws, the pre­

vention of illegal entry is of paramount importance to INS

and involves almost 40 percent of its personnel. Prevention

is carried on through two activities: inspections at ports

of entry and maintenance of a border patrol between entry

sites. Inspection activities are conducted at numerous points

of entry along our international borders as well as at

designated airports and seaports. The law requires that each

alien seeking admission to the United States present himself

to an immigration officer who determines whether such a

person is admissible based on 31 categories of exclusion.

- 77 -

The u.s. customs Service also performs inspection for

immigration purposes according to a cross-designation

authority. 13../

In FY 75, 790,232 persons (o.003%) were denied

entry out of a total of 259 million inspections. If

a person does not present himself at a port-of-entry for

inspection, it falls to the Border Patrol to prevent the

entry.

Authority

Definition and designation of immigration officers are

provided by statute and regulation. The Immigration and

Nationality Act of 1952 provides wide ranging authorities:

II • any officer or employee of the Service authorized

under regulations prescribed by the Attorney General shall

have power without warrant .

To interrogate any alien or person believed to be an alien as to his right to be or to remain in the United States;

To arrest any alien who in his presence or view is entering or attempting to enter the United States in violation of any law or regu­lation made in pursuance of law regulating the admission, exclusion or expulsion of aliens;

To arrest any alien in the United States if he has reason to believe that the alien so arrested is in the United States in violation of any such law or regulation, and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained for his arrest;

13/ This number includes so-called "turnbacks, n persons who approach the port and do not have proper documentation at that time.

- 78 -

To make arrests for felonies which have been committed and which are cognizable under any law of the United States regulating the admission, exclusion or expulsion of aliens if he has reason to believe that the person so arrested is guilty of such felony and if there is likelihood of the person escaping before a warrant can be obtained for his arrest;

Within a reasonable distance from any external boundary of the United States, to board and search for aliens any vessel, within the territorial waters of the United States and any railway car, aircraft, convey­ance or vehicle;

Within a distance of twenty-five miles from any external boundary, to have access to private lands, but not dwellings, for the purpose of patrolling the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United States."

Additional authority to board and search conveyances

is contained in section 235 of the act, which states:

"Immigration officers are hereby authorized and empowered

to board and search any vessel aircraft, railway car, or

other conveyance, or vehicle in which they believe aliens

are being brought into the United States."

Tactics and Procedures

Border Patrol officers assigned to this duty are the

primary interception force which is responsible for pre-

venting and/or detecting illegal entry and alien smuggling.

There is a wide spectrum of activities which are performed

as part of the line watch including the physical patrolling

- 79 -

of the border, surveillance at known crossing points, tower

watch, "sign cutting," observation by aircraft, and respond­

ing to sensor network alarms. This first line of defense

at the immediate border is the foundation and precondition

of successful enforcement. Since experience has shown that

interdiction is most efficiently and effectively performed

at the immediate border, the Border Patrol has always

allocated a majority of its manpower and resources to the

areas of the immediate border.

There are also several supplemental tactics which

are used to backup the line watch.

1. Traffic checks are aimed at the illegal

entrant who has successfully crossed the border

and is presumably enroute to an interior

destination. Both permanent and non-permanent

traffic checks have been employed; permanent

check points are used on major highways while

non-permanent are selectively placed on different

roads leading from and through the border area.

2. Farm and ranch checks are designed to

locate and apprehend those illegal entrants who

have penetrated the INS "first line of defense 11

and successfully obtained jobs. This tactic

normally has a high apprehension rate since

- 80 -

illegal entrants are often found in groups at

their places of employment.

3. City patrol attempts to locate the

illegal entrant who has been able to reach one

of the metropolitan areas along the border.

It includes checking factories, businesses,

hotels, jails and other potential locations.

4. Transportation checks are targeted

against the successful entrant who is attempting

to flee the immediate border area by common

carrier. They include the questioning of suspected

aliens at bus stations and at train and aircraft

terminals. They also include checking freight

trains and freight yards.

5. Secondary patrol is the tactic employed

by the backup stations. It includes "sign cutting"

and highway and road patrol.

6. Boat patrol is conducted along the coastal

borders and on inland waterways.

The relative effectiveness of these tactics is demon­

s-trated in the large numbers of illegal entrants who are

apprehended at entry or shortly thereafter. Line watch is

the most productive and efficient since it results in the

interdiction of the largest number of illegal entrants

-- 81 -

immediately at the border. It is also the least disruptive

or objectionable tactic from the community relations

point of view for citizens or resident aliens of Hispanic

background.

Once an illegal entrant has gained access to the

"interior" of the country, the job of detecting such a

person falls to the investigative arm of the Service. For

those persons who have not entered surreptitiously over the

borders, it is the investigator force who must locate an

overstaying visitor, a student not attending school or

working full-time, or any alien who has violated the

criminal provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Investigators are located mainly in major urban centers

with over half of the investigators located in our three

largest cities, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. The

basic technique utilized is to follow specific leads either

on individual cases of suspected illegal aliens or informa­

tion on known congregating points of illegal aliens such as

certain work places.

Once an illegal alien is apprehended, the massive number

of immigration law violators apprehended by INS prevents the

application of the full force of the law, i.e., prosecution

in the courts or formal deportation within the INS adminis­

trative process. In FY 1974, there were 741,369 violations

- 82 -

which could be entertained for prosecution; over 92

percent were closed by blanket or general waiver.

For this reason, a less complicated repa-

triation procedure is used. Immigration statutes and

implementing regulations provide for illegal aliens to

"voluntarily depart" for their country under certain

circumstances, and INS uses this procedure extensively

to expedite the removal of illegal aliens from the

country. "Repeat" or aggravated offenders and criminal

violators are held for prosecution and/or deportation

proceedings.

There are a number of factors about this system which

deserve comment. First of all, the inherent nature of the

situation places emphasis on the detection and prevention

of illegal entry. The efficiency with which the Service

can apprehend large numbers of illegal entrants in the

immediate border area contributes to the disproportionate

numbers of Mexican nationals that are reflected in the

annual apprehension statistics. It is also the major factor

that influences the current placement of resources. This

emphasis, for example, finds about 40% of the Service's total

resources being devoted to enforcement in our Southwest

activities that are primarily preventive in nature. Over

1700 of the Border Patrol's 2000 officers are located in the

greater Southwest area.

ment defines the problem

- 83 -

To some extent, then, this deploy­

particularly in terms of the

numbers of illegal aliens that. are located each year.

A second factor is the difficulty in apprehending

illegal aliens in interior locations such as our larger

metropolitan areas. The illegal alien, once in these

locations, tends to become an invisible person. All tactics

that are used to ferret out and apprehend such persoms must

be weighed in light of their impact upon individual liberties

of all persons of foreign descent as well as the disruptive

consequences they may have on the communities involved.

Even if an illegal alien is apprehended at areas away from

the border, detention is hindered by a lack of facilities

and by cost.

A third, and sometimes overriding factor, is the often

dilatory tactics that illegals employ in an effort to remain

in the country and gain equity once they have arrived. A

higher percentage of illegals located in interior locales

utilize the hearing process than those aliens along the

Mexican Border. With its present resources the Service

could not possibly conduct a hearing for every alien appre­

hended without seriously affecting its overall enforcement

posture.

- 84 -

Thus, with resources of 8,800 personnel and $210

million in FY 1976, the Service places its highest priority

on prevention activities. Despite this emphasis, a force

of some 1700 patrolmen in our Southern Border can mean only

slightly over 200 on any one shift. This results in one patrolman

for every 10 miles of the 2000 mile long border. Of almost 800,0C 14/

apprehensions per year recently, over 700,000 were

Mexicans, the vast majority of whom were apprehended in the

immediate border area.

Court Decisions

Recently, the courts have taken a more active role in

areas affecting the operations of the Service.

In Almeida-Sanchez v. U.S., 413 U.S. 266, the Supreme

Court held that the warrantless search of an automobile at

a location other than the border or the functional equivalent

thereof, made without probable cause or consent following a

roving patrol stop, violated the Fourth Amendment of the

Constitution.

The Supreme Court, in United States v. Brignoni-Ponce,

No. 74-114 held that a roving patrol stop of a vehicle away

from the immediate border area, and the questioning of its

l4/ An apprehension is an event for statistical purposes, not a person. Thus 800,000 apprehensions probably involves less than 800,000 individuals, as many illegal aliens are apprehended more than once each year.

-- 85 -

occupants merely because they appeared to be of Mexican

descent, violated the Fourth Amendment.

The Court explained that before any such stop could

be adjudged lawful, the officer must be aware of specific 15/

articulable facts-- supporting a reasonable suspicion that

there are illegal aliens in the vehicle. The Court added

that while Mexican appearance was relevant, standing alone,

it was not sufficient justification for the stop.

In United States v. Ortiz, No. 73-2050, the Supreme

Court ruled that a checkpoint search of a vehicle trunk,

away from the border, without probable cause or consent,

violated the Fourth Amendment.

In United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, No. 74-1560,

the Supreme Court held that the Border Patrol may routinely

stop vehicles at established checkpoints reasonably located

away from the border in absence of suspicion that particular

vehicle contains aliens. Vehicle searches, however, require

probable cause or consent.

In areas away from the border and its functional equi-

valents, a vehicle may be stopped by the patrol and the

occupants questioned_ briefly pursuant to a determination by

15/ In th~s sense, articulable facts refers to a combination of circumstances that prompt an officer to stop and query an individual. These circumstances must be clearly explained and sufficient to convince a reasonable person that such a check was justifiable.

- 86 -

the officer that there is a reasonable suspicion of illegal

aliens in the vehicle which can be supported by specific

articulable facts.

Whenever a vehicle is to be searched in any but a "border

search" situation, the officer·must be prepared to articulate

a clear determination of probable cause, or the stated

consent of the driver or owner. This is applicable to both

checkpoint and roving patrol stops. To comply with the

decisions in these cases, the Service revamped some of its

Mexican border area highway operations; a case in point was 16/

the elimination of stopping cars by roving patrols.--

In a related development, several district courts are

urging that the principle of articulate reasonable suspicion

be extended to pedestrian situations routinely encountered

in such enforcement functions as the stopping and questioning

of persons on the streets, in transportation terminals, in

other public places, and commercial establishments.

On July 29, 1975, a p5eliminary injunction was issued

against the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the

case of Illinois Migration Council v. Pilliod (case as yet

unreported.) Under the terms of the injunction the Service

16/ The checkpoint at San Clemente and several others were closed for 15 months following an adverse decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. However, they were reopened when the Supreme Court ruled in u.s. v. Martinez-Fuerte et al. that the routine stopping of vehicles for brief questioning of occupants at reason­ably located Border Patrol checkpoints is constitutional. It was also held that such motorists may be selectively referred to secondary areas for further limited inquiry. The Court reasoned that " ••• the public interest in making such stops outweighs the constitutionally protected interest of the private citizen."

- 87 -

is barred, in the North District of Illinois, from stopping,

detaining, arresting or interrogating persons of Mexican

ancestry of Spanish surname in the absence of a warrant,

or reasonable suspicion that the person is an alien illegally

in the United States. At this time, INS has decided to limit

all area control operations throughout the country to working

specific leads and complaints.

The effect of these decisions has been to place even

greater emphasis on preventing entry in the first place.

Visa Screenin9"_

The issuance of visas was first instituted by a Department

of State instruction on April 17, 1917, and elaborated in a

joint order of the Departments of State and Labor on July 26,

1917. The visa requirement was made statutory by the Immigra­

tion Act of 1924 and by subsequent legislation, notably the

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.

Under the terms of the Act of 1924 a dual-check system

of determining the admissibility of aliens desiring to enter

the United States was made a part of the statutues. Consular

officers of the United States Foreign Service, responsible

to the Department of State, were charged with the responsibility

of issuing visas to alien applicants abroad who had proved

their admissibility under the immigration laws, while represent­

atives of the Bureau of Immigration, then a part of the Department

of Labor, were required to verify the aliens' admissibility upon

their arrival at a port of entry of the United States.

- 88 -

The consular officer's authority under the law to issue

a visa is not reviewable, and is unlike that of the

immigration inspector whose judgment regarding inadmissibility

must be supported by a finding of excludability on the part

of an immigration judge. The discretion of a consular officer

places him in a unique and somewhat invidious position for

preventing mala fide visa applicants from coming to this

country.

In recent years successive Presidents have stressed the

importance of facilitating international travel. The pro­

cedures for the issuance of visas to persons wishing to visit

the United States have been made as simple as possible and

every effort is made to expedite the necessary action.

During the last ten years, the issuance of such visas

has gone from under 1 million to over 3 million -- an increase

exceeding 200 percent. However, the number of officers

issuing visas -- both immigrant and nonimmigrant -- has

decreased slightly during this same period. At the present

time, there are about 360 full-time Foreign Service officers

supported bylOOO indigenous personnel {i.e. Foreign Service

locals) handling visa work. All in all, the cost of maintain­

ing this function came to $35.6 million in FY 1975.

- 89 -

C. INTERAGENCY COOPERATION

One of the mandates of the Domestic Council Committee

is to assess the cooperative relationships among various

agencies having responsibility for some aspect of illegal

immigration. The implication of such an approach is that

more can be done without: (1) new legal authorities, or

(2) significant increases in resources. The most recent

precedent for this approach has its basis in legislation

passed in 1972 which required cooperation between the

Social Security Administration and the Immigration and

Naturalization Service. One can properly regard this

arrangement as an example of what is involved in such

undertakings. The experience must be viewed from the

standpoint of what structural deficiencies and competing

considerations have been manifested, and how these

difficulties should be overcome in any future proposals.

1972 Social Security Amendments

Since the overriding incentive for illegal aliens to

enter or remain in the United States is the desire to work,

and since employment opportunities for the vast majority

of workers is limited to those who possess social security

numbers, in the past much debate centered on improvements

in social security card issuance. Historically, the INS

had sought to preclude access to a social security number

by illegals, while the Social Security Administration (SSA}

- 90 -

had resisted becoming part of a control system over aliens.

The SSAts t;r;-aditional view has been that citizenship

is not an issue in determinin<J eligibility for SS benefits.

Rather, the purpose of SS legislation is to insure that with

certain specified exceptions, all remunerative work is

covered by the appropriate provisions of law. Further,

since there is no specific exclusion in the law for aliens

working illegally, they are considered to be covered. The

possession of a social security number in no way conveys

an authority for a person to work, yet in fact, the social

security card serves as a work permit.

Prior to the amendment of the Social Security Act in 1972,

applicants for a SS number could obtain one on the spot in

SS district offices. The foregoing was well known by illegal

aliens and it would probably be accurate to guess that the

great majority of illegals today have valid ss cards despite

recent changes in the application procedure.

The 1972 Social Security Act Amendments required the

Secretary of HEW to "take affirmative measures to assure

that social security account numbers will, to the maximum

extent practicable, be assigned to all members of appropriate

groups or categories of individuals." As originally

envisioned, this provision was intended to exclude aliens

who were prohibited to work from receiving a social security

account number. However, many institutions, both within

the government and outside it, now use the social security

- - 91 -

account number as an identifying mechanism.. The SSA has

been somewhat helpless in trying to stop or reverse this

process. In the arrangements worked out between INS and

SSA to implement the provisions of the 1972 amendments,

the procedures called for persons applying for a card, who

had foreign birth, to prove their status with regard to the

immigration and nationality laws. If they needed a card but

were not authorized to work, their account number was

annotated to that effect. If earnings were reported to

the account, SSA referred the information to INS.

During the initial months of the new SSA application

procedure, an average of 500 applications a day were referred

to INS for checking; in all, a total of about 40,000 applica-

tions were referred in the period March 1974 to February

1975. Following the implementation of the Privacy Act of 11 I

1974-- , these referrals fell off sharply; today they

average about 10 - 20 a week. At present, whenever an

applicant is hesitant or reluctant to provide proof of

citizenship or legal alien status he is informed that the

information could be referred to INS for an illegal alien

check. If the individual withdraws the application, all

17/ The Privacy Act does not cover "illegal aliens, so there are no restrictions regarding exchange of information between various agenci-es concerning such individuals. However, the SSA does not know whether they are dealing with a legal resident or not. Since the Privacy Act covers legal resident aliens, the SSA is carefully revising its regulations to cover exchanges of information with INS.

- 92 -

data already submitted by the alien are returned and no

referral is made to the INS. ·only after complying with

the provisions of the Privacy Act and the individual's

expressed desire to pursue the application are doubtful

cases referred to INS and even then the SSA will wait just

one week before processing the application.

Following the March 1974 implementation of regulations

and before the Privacy Act became effective, the data on

all SS applications abandoned following a request for

proof of status was routinely passed to INS. There were

some 39,000 applications abandoned under these conditions

in the period March 1974 to February 1975. The SSA control

system cannot detect the use of someone else's valid SS

number by an illegal alien or anyone else for that matter.

SSA records are essentially confidential pursuant to the

Privacy Act. While illegal aliens are not covered by the

Privacy Act, a prudent bureaucrat would be careful not to

make a mistake involving a u.s. citizen or a legal alien

resident. Concern over the requirements of this legislation

has essentially brought the cooperative effort to a standstill.

While SSA continues to screen applicants and does annotate

accounts, very little information is being sent to the INS.

The one salutary aspect of this program may be in the area

of abandoned applications which are thought to be indicative

of deterred ineligible aliens. However, this may not be true

in light of the fact that a number of abandoned applications

- 93 -

turned out to be those of re.sident legal aliens or citizens

as a subsequent che.ck with INS revealed. It was this develop-

ment which prompted the SSA to stop making referrals to INS,

unless the person's permission was received to pursue the

application in such a manner.

During the period of March 1974 to February 1975, the

SSA issued 23,000 cards for which the account was annotated

"work prohibited". One thousand five hundred cases of

reported earnings were referred to INS for that period.

This program has had an uneven history. The following

problems exist in the current procedures:

1. Those persons under 18 claiming native birth are not required to show any documentation. The SSA did conduct a study to validate this experiment.

2. For those over 18 who claim citizenship, a check with INS that only allows seven days for turn-around before issuance of a card is not realistic given the volume of work involved in such processing.

3. The application form for an SS number only requires a date and place of birth -- it does not require a statement of citizenship or alien status. As the system works now, there is an inherent bias which favors the false claimant. Although the card carries a warning regarding those who willfully furnish false information, the SSA does not prosecute illegal aliens offering false information to obtain a number. They are prepared to prosecute those who intend to defraud the system of benefits; however, they doubt that u.s. ~ttorneys would be willing to prosecute just fraudulent applicants.

4. There is a minimum time delay of six months before earnings to an annotated account will be reported

- 94 -

to INS. The INS places these investigations in a low priority due. to the time delay involved.

Until such tilne as newregulations are written and

promulgated by SSA, the impact of this cooperative effort

will be minimal. However, the tollowing possibilities

should be considered to improve the quality and usefulness

of information exchange:

1. The SSA has collected its information on abandoned applications centrally. The SSA should conduct a study of this information. One area to analyze is the particular districts which have the largest number of abandoned applications as compared with those areas that are perceived to be the locales of large numbers of illegal aliens.

2. INS must give greater attention to working leads on annotated accounts with reported earnings. Once a test of these leads' workability has been completed, a judgment can be made about their worthiness for future efforts.

3. INS could supply information to SSA on prospective overstays, and SSA would compare this data with its data on annotated accounts with reported earnings.

4. The SSA could, within its own system, compare data on employers with reporting problems with its data on annotated accounts with reported earnings, and make referrals to INS.

5. INS could refer to SSA the names of employers who are thought to be hiring illegal aliens. SSA, in turn, could compare this information with either its data on annotated accounts with reported earnings or its data on employers with reporting problems.

All of these possibilities would have to be tested.

Their success would depend upon the relative costs involved

in carrying on such efforts on a large scale. However, they

offer the possibility for improved information exchange in

the context of these agencies' current capabilities.

- 95 -

The exl?erience with the SSA/INS cooperative e;f;forts

is instructive in a number of respects. First and foremost,

future policymakers should be· extremely wary of drawing

agencies whose central purpose is not enforcement into

arrangements which require them to act in ways contrary

to their historical nature. The SSA has always seen itself

as a service agency, and thus has been slow to adjust to

the requirements inherent in the amendments of 1972.

Secondly, when such arrangements are undertaken, proper

consideration must be given to the funding implications

involved. This is not always a case of additional personnel.

Thirdly, the success of these efforts can turn on nothing

more than how such agencies collect and organize information.

If there is not sufficient compatability and management

attention to information gaps and procedural difficulties,

such arrangements are probably doomed to failure. And

finally, all these factors would indicate that it is far

more desirable to foster cooperative relationships between

agencies whose operations are essentially enforcement or

compliance in nature, and thus share a common interest in

related problems. In this sense, the operations and

legislative mandate of the Bureau of Security and Consular

Affairs, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Wage and

Hour Enforcement Division, are more akin to such endeavors.

- 96 -

Department of State

Responsibility for bringing persons into this country

either as immigrants or nonimmigrants is shared between the

Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Department

of State.

A crucial element in improving our ability to cope

with illegal migration rests with efforts that deal with

the problem at the source. Prevention at this stage is not

only cost effective, but in many ways, the most humane

approach. Little coordinated study has been made of the

characteristics of nonimmigrant applicant motivations and goals

or of whether our procedures contribute to fraud. Insuffi­

cient effort has been made to inform host governments of

the extent and nature of the illegal entry problem. There

has been little exploration of systems for dealing efficiently

with large numbers of persons. There has been little

recognition of the contradiction between effective informa­

tion programs about the United States and curbing illegal

immigration. In the absence of such systematic guidance,

consuls engaged in visa activities have developed their own

methods of coping with local pressures and making accurate

judgments. Such methods are not sufficient.

Despite all the time pressures involved in such work,

the rise in workloads, the attendant resource situation, and

the sometimes sensitive nature of this work, the real source

of difficulty in improving the overall effectiveness of the

- 97

visa issuing function lies with the priority assigned to

these activities within the Department of State. In fact,

certain management considerations may work in a contrary

manner. For example, since there are subsequent time con-

suming procedural activities to be accomplished in the

event of a visa refusal, at busy posts there is a built in

bias to find in favor of the applicant as often as specific

case circumstances makes possible. And if this is coupled

with management's not giving due consideration to the extra

effort involved in denials when assigning staffing levels for

high fraud posts, there may be a reluctance at such posts la/

to increase denial rates to more realistic levels.--

There is increasing evidence that illegal immigration

and its causes will be a major consideration in our relations

with a number of developing nations for the foreseeable

future. New policy guidelines on immigration-related matters

as well as specific action proposals to foster new objectives

aimed at relieving the causes and incidence of illegal

immigration are needed. Visa issuance and fraud in certain

countries must be given higher priority within the Department

18/ since it is specifically intended to be an instrument gc.verning and controlling the movement of aliens into the United States, the Immigration and Nationality Act assigns responsibility for visa issuance to "a consular officer." However, management considerations have also resulted in the diminution of individual visa officer responsibility. To speed up and simplify the visa issuing process many posts, including those in Mexico, now issue visitor visas which often carry the facsimile signature of someone other than the responsible visa officer.

- 98 -

of State so that only for the most compelling political con­

siderations should action against visa fraud not be vigorously

pressed or made a country priority. Country-by-country visa

abuse experience must be considered in developing new guide­

lines. The following are specific recommendations which can

be taken to ameliorate the problem of illegal immigration.

Some of them require giving higher attention and priority to

relationships and programs which already exist. In some other

instances, they involve making current initiatives more com-

prehensive in nature. And finally, there are some new approaches

of a pilot nature.

1. Policy

a. The President should issue instructions to ambassadors

of major sending countries to accord the highest priority to visa

issuance functions and to reaffirm and emphasize that Chiefs of

Consular Sections utilize the widest latitude and discretion in

their areas of responsibility. These instructions should point

out that visa issuance and refusal are delegated by law solely

to the consular officer.

b. High fraud posts must be given high management attention

with respect to personnel and budgetary priorities to, inter alia,

permit the use of foreign service officers in the initial screen­

ing of applicants.

c. Prospective students' financial capability for the

duration of the course of study, applicability of the training

to future employment possibilities in the native land, and

general skills at the time of application should be given care­

ful consideration in the issuance of student visas.

- 99 -

2. Operations

a. All high fraud posts as well as potential problem

consulates must have access to a centralized computer 19/

capability.

b. In identifying developing trends and potentiai

problem areas, the Visa Office should have the benefit of

a management information system. Such a system would,

inter alia, monitor use of multiple entry visas at high

fraud posts, a practice which may not be justified.

c. Referrals are the means by which the Ambassador

or one of his subordinates requests a consular officer to

accord "special consideration" to certain visa applicants.

With regard to referrals, each post should be required to

keep a careful system of documentation describing the nature

of the recommendation, its importance and its status if a

visa is granted on such a basis. To the maximum extent

practicable, all persons receiving a visa on such a basis

should be required to appear before a consular officer

upon the return to the country placing responsibility upon

the in~ividual Consulate to prove that the procedure does not

compromise the visa issuance process.

d. All high fraud posts should have investigative

staffs to bolster the screening and interviewing process.

19/ This capability would enable posts to check applicants against various "lookout" lists. In addition, the Depart­ment of State keeps information for two years on all applicants who are denied a visa.

- 100 -

3. Department of Justice/Department of State Cooperation

a. To create a more formalized communications process

between the two agencies involved in controlling the entry

of aliens, the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs and

the Immigration and Naturalization Service should hold

regularly scheduled meetings, perhaps as often as once a

month. Meetings should not be confined to central office

personnel alone, but should be extended to the field for

personnel involved in fraud control and matters of mutual

interest.

b. The Immigration and Naturalization Service and the

Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs should work more

closely in the development of fraud profiles for illegal

alien sending countries.

c. Fraud information should increasingly be stressed

in the immigrant as well as nonimmigrant areas. Problems

in nonimmigrant visa issuance become apparent in the practices

and circumstances of applicants for immigrant status.

d. INS and State should seek more systematic use of

information on all persons denied admission as well as all

visa abusers who are apprehended.

e. Visa issuing officers should make use of notations

and other information on the visa as a means of aiding

immigration inspectors in their determination about an

-- 101 -

applicant's intentions as well as whether the individual

presenting himself for admission is the valid holder of

the documentation presented.

4. Actions Within Countries

a. Each embassy with visa fraud problems should enlist

' the host country's political cooperation. This might

include:

Development projects aimed at areas that have

been identified as areas of out-migration.

Actions taken within the government to dis-

courage the abuse of documents and represen-

tation.

Host country cooperation in improving the

overall quality of documentation.

Licensing of travel agents and others who

traffic in fraudulent documents.

Vigorous prosecution of fraud cases involving

the assigning of indigenous personnel to such

cases.

b. The U. s. Information Service should sensitize the

indigenous populace to the problems of illegal immigration

and the unscrupulous persons who visit hardship on their

victims. Specifically, an organized campaign should be

developed to:

- 102 -

Inform the press of widespread abuses of

persons who seek middlemen in an effort to

obtain a visa.

Encour·age academics to conduct research on

the causes of migration within the country

and out of it.

c. The Immigration and Naturalization Service with

the State Department should take steps to establish closer

liaison with the immigration authorities of other countries

to gain better use of departure control systems including

exchange of information to detect fraudulent documents or

imposters.

Internal Revenue Service

Other cooperative efforts are already underway. The

Internal Revenue Service is presently conducting two programs

in the illegal alien area. One program is aimed at appre­

hended illegal aliens and the other is aimed at the employers

of illegal aliens.

1. Apprehended Illegal Aliens 90 Day Test

The test program which ran from March 4, 1974 to June 7,

1974, was conducted in San Diego, Dallas, Chicago, and New

York City, in conjunction with INS.

This test provided that for 90 days, one Revenue Officer

or one Revenue Representative in each of the parti,cipating

districts would spend an entire workday at the local INS

-- 103 -

detention facility where apprehended illegal aliens are

processed to determine potential tax liability. The results

were:

Total No. of Aliens Interviewed

Total No. of Returns Secured

Total Amount of Tax Assessed

Total Amount of Tax Collected

1,699

1,090

$247,696

$168,469

Since this test indicated a high frequency of noncompliance

among apprehended illegal aliens, though of relatively modest

amounts (about $140) on the average, an on-going program was

developed. The new program, with basically the same guidelines

as the test, was implemented on April 12, 1976, in the '¥is cities

where INS processes the highest volume of illegal aliens. They

are:

Chicago, Illinois:

Chula Vista, California:

Dallas, Texas;

Denver, Colorado;

El Centro, California;

El Paso, Texas;

Miami, Florida;

Newark, New Jersey;

New Orleans, Louisiana;

New York, New York;

San Antonio, Texas;

Seattle, Washington;

- 104 -

Swanton, Vermont;

Washington, D. C.; and

San Francisco, California.

2. Employers of Illegal Aliens

Another test began on October 30, 1975 and will be

completed by June 30, 1976. It is being conducted in seven

areas: Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Manhattan,

Cleveland, and Jacksonville.

With the joint cooperation of IRS, Immigration and

Naturalization Service (INS) and the Social Security Adminis­

tration (SSA), it involves securing the payment of withholding

taxes by employers of illegal ~liens.

Where a common employer is shown for a specified number

of employees (five in some districts, two in others) in INS

apprehension records, the records will be forwarded to the

participating IRS district office. IRS will determine whether

the employer has filed Form 941, employer's quarterly report.

If no return has been filed, a revenue officer calls on the

employer to ensure that all federal tax obligations have

been and are being met by the employer. If a return has been

filed, a "request for social security earnings information"

will be forwarded to SSA and one of the following procedures

will be completed:

a. If the alien's wages were properly recorded,

the case will be closed.

-· - 105 -

b. If the wages were not reported, the case will

be referred to the Audit Division for possible field con­

tact by an agent for eventual audit if warranted. If the

wages were under-reported and/or a possibility of fraud

exists, the case will be forwarded to the Intelligence

Division for possible field contact by a special agent.

Statistics for this test have not been compiled at this

time. However, should the statistics for the test prove to

be encouraging, consideration would be given to continuing

this program on an expanded basis.

Department of Labor

Since the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act in

1938, the Department of Labor has been quite successful in

developing a relatively high level of compliance in the area

of wage and hour enforcement. In fact, it represents one of

the government's most successful regulation attempts. However,

a rather serious problem of backlogs has developed in the last

two years for a number of the laws that are administered by

the Wage and Hour Division partially due to the passage of

a number of new pieces of legislation.since 1960, which

extend the Department of Labor's responsibilities. This has

been coupled with a stable budgetary situation yielding only

minimal increases in compliance investigators for wage and

hour enforcement over the past fifteen years or so. However,

- 106 -

wage and hour enforcement is a primary area for increased

enforcement.

1. The Farm Labor Contract Registration Act, as

amended December, 1974, contains a provision pro­

hibiting the knowing employment of illegal aliens.

A similar provision should be incorporated into all

other important labor standards' and labor relations'

laws, and should be accompanied with commensurate

increases in resources for enforcing such provisions.

2. The INS and Wage and Hour Enforcement Division

of the Department of Labor jointly should sponsor

a pilot project in a large metropolitan area where

there is evidence that substantial numbers of illegal

aliens reside. The greater New York City area is

an example since there are currently less than 50

compliance investigators working there. It would.

involve:

Increased and more systematic exchange

of information.

Mutual targeting of employment establishments.

Priority assignment of personnel in areas

which may be of mutual benefit.

--

- 107 -

Internal Actions: INS

In addition to more effective coordination with the

above agencies, INS can take steps internally to more

optimally allocate its resources and improve its ability

to cope with illegal immigration. Although the Service

has sought additional resources, it has also recognized

the need to improve current methods of operation. Conse­

quently, a number of evaluations and consultant studies

have been undertaken.

INS is often buffeted between competing pressures.

This competition is markedly shown in the inspection for

admission process. At ports of entry, emphasis is frequently

placed on speedy facilitation of entry to the detriment of

careful screening of applicants. Screening for fraud can

be a laborious process and tends to mitigate against facili­

tation. However, to some extent, this can be overcome by

careful staffing, training and motivation of personnel.

The Service should not maximize its presence at all ports

of entry, but instead assign its personnel to critical

and heavily used points in a manner which deploys them at

peak traffic times.

Currently about 91 percent of all inspections are

performed at land border ports and about 65 percent of these

are along the Southwest border. Illegal entry is detected

through ports along the Southern border eight times as often

- 108 -

as at ports along the Northern border. In FY 1974, for

every workyear devoted to primary inspection 207 aliens

were denied entry on the Northern border and 1,839 aliens

were denied entry on the Southwest border. However, only

23 percent of the inspections workforce is stationed along

the Southwest border, while 37 percent of all the inspections 20/

workforce is on the Northern border.--

Along the border, the Service is also investigating

the efficacy of using certain border patrol staffing patterns

that involve flooding areas at peak times in an effort to

maximize apprehensions. This effort should be coupled with

continuing experiments for improving the configuration and

placement of sensor systems.

Finally, some joint ADP and Telecommunication develop-

ment and sharing between INS, the U. S. Customs Service and

the Drug Enforcement Administration has a wide range of

potential benefits. Some INS and Customs personnel at field

offices around the country are frequently co-located; the

use of remote ADP terminals and the development of a common

communication network could result in significant cost

savings. For example, it appears feasible that INS' Alien

Documentation, Identification and Telecommunication system

could use the existing Customs Service's ADP and communi-

cation network.

20/ There are 147 land ports on the U.S.-Canadian border and 40 on the U.S.-Mexican border.

- - 109 -

Therefore, it is recommended that INS:

1. Develop expanded and ongoing training of supervisory

and journeyman personnel. This is particularly important

for an agency which is undergoing so much change. There

will be considerable turnover within INS over the next

two years. Added to the large numbers of new personnel

received in recent budgets are the impending retirements

brought about by the Law Enforcement Officers Retirement

Act.

2. Continue to place emphasis on evaluation techniques,

process studies and simulation models that offer the

prospect of improving the current deployment of resources.

In striving to achieve this goal, INS should take full

advantage of the wide range of technical services that

are available within the federal government.

3. Investigate the feasibility of applying alternative

enforcement techniques. This could include but would

not be confined to: expansion of preclearance inspection

operations abroad, development of specialized investi­

gative units to combat smuggling, and expanded use of

investigations at overseas posts.

- 110 -

D. DISINCENTIVES

While further interagency efforts are quite necessary

and hold promise for improving overall immigration enforce­

ment, such initiatives must be augmented by legislative

improvements which seek to diminish the strength of the

pull factors drawing people to enter and remain illegally

in the U. s. Stronger checks, referred to as disincentives

are intended to (1) create additional impediments for those

persons who are contemplating illegal entry or who intend

to violate their status while in the United States; (2) deny

various benefits to persons who clearly act in circumvention

of the law; and (3) attempt to lessen the effect of the

immigration law where it currently works in a manner contrary

to its stated purposes. As current conditions exist, there

are many persons who use their very illegality to gain

immigration status and preference under the system. This is

unfair and tends to undermine the whole immigration system.

It is unrealistic to hope that we can be completely

successful in preventing an alien from entering the United

States illegally, or remaining in violation of law if he

succeeds in entering lawfully. However, the problem can be

mitigated by reducing the incentives for illegal immigration.

Those incentives are essentially economic.

- 111 -

If potential immigration law violators cannot find

employment, they may be discouraged from ever attempting

to come in the first place. Moreover, if the illegal

alien cannot use dilatory tactics to build up equities

under immigration law, there will also be less incentive

to remain. Finally, if various social benefits are

unavailable, there will be almost no opportunity to pro­

long stay in the United States. But a fair and balanced

system of enforcement and penalties must also deprive

employers of the advantages gained by employing illegal

aliens. Therefore, it is recommended that a disincentive

program involving a range of approaches be adopted.

1. Sanctions on Employers

The preponderance of available information suggests

that the major cause underlying illegal migration is the

aliens search for employment and economic opportunity. The

vast majority of aliens in illegal status who are appre­

hended by the INS are either working, seeking work or have

been employed at one time or another. In addition, domestic

employers' willingness to hire illegal aliens, in some cases

actively recruit them, is undoubtedly a significant part of

the economic forces which exacerbate the flow of illegal

aliens. Those agencies concerned with administering

- 112 -

and regulating the flow of aliens into the country are con-

vinced that only when we begin to cope with the economic

magnet that draws individuals here will we be in a position

to have some control of illegal immigration. This over-

riding consideration prompted Congress to introduce legisla-

tion which would impose sanctions upon employers of illegal

aliens. This legislation, commonly known as the "Rodino"

bill, has passed in the House on two occasions, but has never

been acted upon by the Senate. The proposed penalties are

conditioned upon the employer "knowingly" hiring the illegal

alien. 21/ This type of legislation is perceived to have a

number of beneficial aspects. It sanctions employers who

currently bear no responsibility for hiring of individuals

illegally in the country, thus eliminating a discriminatory

and contradictory feature of the current law, namely, it is

illegal for an unauthorized alien to accept employment but it

is not illegal for an employer to hire such a person. Further­

more, such sanctions would achieve a high level of voluntary

compliance simply by being legislated as federal policy.

As this legislation has languished in two different

Congresses because of Senate inaction, this type of approach

has become more and more controversial. Initially there was a

wide range of opinion about whether civil penalties would be

sufficient or if the stronger criminal penalties would be

21/ Such a provision does apply in the hiring of farm contract labor. See p. 106.

-- 113 -

required. The INS and the Department of Justice opposed the

"civil penalties" only approach on the grounds that they

would not be a sufficient deterrent alone. In addition,

the great administrative and financial burden of collecting

penalties would not be sufficiently offset by civil legis­

lation.

The current legislation in the House (H.R. 8713} con-

tains a compromise. This compromise suggests a civil and

criminal penalty combination similar in nature to other

Federal provisions such as the Occupational Safety and

Health Act of 1970 (29 u.s.c. 666), the Federal Aviation

Act (49 u.s.c. 1471) and the Federal Coal Mine Health and

Safety Act of 1969 (30 u.s.c. 8l~(a)). The latter, for

example, prov.ides for an initial civil penalty to be assessed

by the Secretary of HEW for the violation of mandatory health

and safety standards. In addition, this act requires a hearing,

provides for the compromise of the amount of the penalty and

permits suit for the enforcement in u.s. district court.

More specifically, criminal penalties are provided i~ the

event of willful violation. The result is a three step

plan -- citation, civil penalty and then a criminal penalty

for violation of the law.

The Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and Naturalization

has, for the first time since the enactment of the Immigration

Act of 1965, commenced hearings on widespread immigration reform.

- 114 -

On March 4, 1976, Senator James 0. Eastland, Chairman

of both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Subcommittee·

on Immigration and Naturalization introduced S. 3074, a

comprehensive bill dealing with the problem of the illegal

alien. With regard to sanctions against employers,

Mr. Eastland proposes direct civil penalties -- up to

$500 for the first offense and up to $1,000 for each sub­

sequent offense. Again, the proposal is conditioned upon

the employer "knowingly" hiring the illegal alien. The

imposition of sanctions against employers is most contro­

versial even though the Rodino measures have passed the

House overwhelmingly in both the 92d and 93d Congresses.

The formidable opposition which has mounted in the 94th

Congress has stalled action by the Rules Committee. The

opposition comes principally from employer groups such as

the American Farm Bureau Federation, which feel employers

are to be compelled to become enforcement 11 agents" of

federal law; from minority groups, principally Hispanic,

who feel their members will be discriminated against in

employment practices and religious groups including the

United States Catholic Conference which also cannot accept

sanctions without protection against discrimination and

without a meaningful amnesty provision to protect the

aliens and their families from mass exodus or deportation.

- - 115 -

Many others are concerned, about the difficulties inherent

in enforcing this type of law, and feel it may be unwise

from a policy standpoint accordingly.

However, the most thorny issue seems to be the per-

ceived problem of discrimination in hiring practices that

such legislation may bring about. One means by which

discrimination in hiring practices could be avoided is the

use of some type of identification card which would be

required of every applicant for employment. Such a

suggestion has seriously raised further opposition. Opposition - __,·_ -- ,_ .... to this scheme runs the gamut from civil libertarians to

organized labor. However, in response to this concern,

the House has included in the "Rodino" bill a provision

that authorizes the Attorney General to bring civil actions

when he has reasonable cause to believe that an employer

has engaged in employment discrimination based on national

origin.

Although tlis Committee is sensitive to the controversial

aspects of the various pieces of proposed legislation, it

remains convinced that some control over this problem must

begin with one of its causes -- employer willingness to

hire illegal aliens. A great deal of emotion has attended

the debate on this subject. And yet, a precedent for this

type of approach was established with the enactment into law

- 116 -

of a provision in the Farm Labor Contract Registration

Act prohibiting "knowing" employment of illegal aliens. The

Committee finds no compelling reasons for why one sector

of the economy should be singlea out for such legislation.

As the foregoing discussion of the various instruments

proposed for implementing such an approach indicate, there

are strengths and weaknesses to each; the Committee recog­

nizing this has chosen to avoid recommending the specific

means by which such legislation should be carried out.

However, it does recommend that appropriate means be

developed to:

1. Penalize employers of illegal aliens.

2. Prohibit use of u.s. Government funds

for employment and training of aliens

who are not authorized to work.

3. Disallow for federal income tax purposes

any business deduction for wages paid

to an illegal alien.

2. Combating Dilatory Tactics

The longer the illegal alien is able to remain in the

United States, the greater is his reward. For this reason,

it has been said by immigration lawyers, 'the name of the

game is time." The alien of course needs time to work so

he can earn a sufficient amount of money to employ a lawyer

--

- 117 -

or travel agent to help him become a lawful permanent

resident alien so he will not become a public charge, and

to support his family abroad until he is able to bring them

to the United States. He may also need time to obtain a

job that would qualify him for a labor certification, to

marry a lawful resident alien or United States citizen or

divorce his spouse abroad and remarry, or to become the

parent of a United States citizen child so that he will be

exempt from the labor certification requirement. Also the

passage of time may enable the illegal alien to acquire

equities so that he may become eligible for adjustment of

status or regularization of his status through registry or

suspension of deportation.

Because time is such a valuable ingredient, it puts a

premium on delays, adjournments, dilatory tactics and other

techniques of evasion, including frivolous appeals. The

following recommendations will lessen the possibilities of

waiting out the system:

1. Amend suspension of deportation provisions

to preclude consideration of physical

presence acquired in the United States

subsequent to initiation of explusion

proceedings.

- 118 -

2. Change the law to provide that the priority

date for the issuance of a visa number will

regress, or that the waiting time for a visa

application will be extended, in proportion

to the time spent in the United States

subsequent to the institution of deportation

proceedings.

3. Discontinue the statutory provision that

automatically grants a stay of deportation

upon the filing in a Circuit Court of Appeals

of a petition to review a deportation order.

3. Sanctions on Illegal Aliens

More can be done to discourage individuals from pro-

fiting by violating the law, or manipulating the law to

gain experience that may entitle them to preference under

it.

1. Make violations of status or unauthorized employ-

ment grounds for barring.persons from adjustment

of status within the United States.*

2. Require certain students to return to their native

lands for a period of at least two years before

they can become eligible for immigration to the

United States.

*P.L. 94-571, signed October 20, 1976, contains a provision which bars adjustment of status for an alien (other than an immediate relative) who continues in or accepts unauthorized employment.

- 119 -

3. Narrow the categories of aliens who may be

classified as a nonimmigrant student.

4. Disallow, for purposes of labor certification

and occupational visa preference, work experience

gained by an alien while illegally in the United

States.

5. Require a labor certification for the parents

of a United States citizen child under 21 in

the Western Hemisphere!

6. Eliminate marriage after the institution of

deportation proceedings as a reason for adjust-

ing status from that of an alien to permanent

resident.

7. Forbid the return to the United States of

a deported alien unless he has reimbursed the

United States for the estimated expense of his

deportation.

4. Denying Social Benefits

A comprehensive approach to the problem also requires

that illegal aliens be denied the means to remain in the

country. However, measures in this area should not be so

harsh that emergency medicare treatment or the like would

be precluded.

* P.L. 94-571, signed October 20, 1976, provides for such a requirement.

- 120 -

1. Define "public charge" to include aliens

receiving public assistance whether or not

there is a requirement to reimburse the

governmental agency that furnished the

assistance.

2. Deny federal benefit programs to illegal

aliens such as is currently provided for

in the case of food stamps.

5. Enhancing Enforcement

Enforcement of the law can be enhanced by providing

greater authorities or making greater use of already available

mechanisms similar to that of other federal agencies.

1. Authorize summary seizure and forfeiture of

vessels, vehicles, and aircraft used for

smuggling aliens.

2. Include in the criminal penalty imposed

for counterfeiting the following: border

crossing and alien registration cards and

other documents used for entry into or as

evidence of stay in the United States.

3. Require visitors and students to post

departure bonds with American Consuls.

Most of these items would not have a major budgetary

impact, since they, in large part, only seek to create

additional impediments to those who are violating their

- 121 -

immigration status. The major exception is, of course, any

provision which would penalize employers of illegal aliens.

The budgetary impact for such a provision is a matter of record

in congressional testimony. It may be more appropriate to deal

with some disincentive concepts by regulation or executive

order, rather than by seeking legislation. On the other hand,

it may be desirable to bolster the food stamp prohibition,

which is currently governed by regulation, with the force of

law. Moreover, various federal benefit programs should be

studied and clarified in the overall context of aliens' rights.

Whatever the means, there is a clear need for introducing

greater rationality into the immigration laws which often

work at cross purposes, or in ways never envisioned.

6. Changes Having An Indirect Impact

Any major revision of our immigration and naturalization

laws must include consideration of the extent to which these

laws no longer reflect contemporary standards and thinking.

As current conditions exist, immigration investigators may spend

. considerable time investigating allegations involving the use

of marijuana or moral turpitude for an applicant for naturaliza­

tion. These efforts are counterproductive and detract from

more important enforcement tasks. Thus, consideration must also

be given to those changes which would streamline the immigration

process of its anachronistic provisions and thereby free manpower

and resources. Some examples would be: the elimination of mandatory

excludability and deportability for possession of small amounts of

-------------- -- -

- 122 -

marijuana, a statute of limitations in deportation~ and

the restriction of the Attorney General's authority to waive

inadmissibility because of technical defects in immigrant

visas.

E. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Immigration law enforcement today is directed almost

totally at the problem of illegal immigration. The agencies

with primary responsibility for enforcing the law~ the

Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Department of

State, have a long history of involvement with the problems

of the United States - Mexico border and illegal immigration

in that context. The newer illegal migration from other

nations requires different tactics and methods.

Our enforcement efforts are not sufficiently effective

to undermine the push-pull forces which create and sustain

illegal immigration. Significant improvements must be

made in several areas.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Prevention of entry should remain the foremost enforcement

goal of both the INS and the Department of State.from

a cost, a legal, and a community impact point of view.

To achieve an acceptable level of prevention will

require additional resources for both agencies, and

- 123 -

improved management techniques (see pages 98-102

and 107-109), and higher priority for the visa

function with the Department of State.

2. Several federal agencies share varying degrees

of responsibility in illegal alien enforcement.

Enforcement efforts would be significantly

strengthened by continuing and expanding the

cooperative interagency efforts underway.

Specific, detailed re.connnendations are discussed

above in pages 93-106.

3. Additional resources and improved coordination must

be augmented with substantial legislative action

in five important areas: sanctions on employers,

combating dilatory tactics, sanctions on illegal

aliens, denying social benefits and enhancing

enforcement. Discussed on pages 111-120, these

changes would rationalize the current penalty

structure directed at illegal entry to reflect

a goal of slowing the flow of illegal aliens.

4. In the longer run the Immigration and Nationality

Act should be fundamentally reviewed in order to

examine the extent to which the current law and

its enforcement meets policies and values of the

society in which it exists today.

- 124 -

CHAPTER IV -- THE ILLEGAL ALIEN: A SOFT PORTRAIT

Law enforcement is the first line of domestic response

to illegal immigration. However, sizeable illegal immigration

raises additional questions for the society which merit con­

sideration. To postulate the implications of a significant

illegal population in our society requires information derived

from research.

Current studies of the illegal alien can be compared to

a series of preliminary sketches. Each is drawn from a

different perspective on the subject and none can stand by

itself as a valid representation of the whole.

The intent of this chapter is to examine existing data

from many sources in an effort to develop the foundations for

assessing their effects on our society. In this way we can

determine which of the elements are missing, incomplete,

misplaced or of questionable value.

A. DATA DEFICIENCIES

The task forces concerned with assessing the domestic

impact of illegal aliens reviewed a wide range of information

which has been developed about the impact of the illega Much

of this information is based on opinion rather than hard data.

Writers, researchers, and officials who have been close to the

issue may be very perceptive in their analyses but it is

impossible to confirm independently the accuracy of their

- - 125 -

judgments. Attached as an Appendix A to this report is a

comprehensive listing and summary of the topic areas and

sources of information which is available on the impact of

the illegal.* We make no value judgment on the relative validity

of these sources. Among them, however, are several studies

which represent sound research efforts and which we believe,

despite the serious problems described below, provide some

objective basis for setting forth a "soft portrait" of the

illegal alien given the data available to date.

The data and therefore the portrait is severely handi­

capped by the enormous methodological problems inherent in

any attempt to count and describe a clandestine population.

Every attempt will be made by the individual to mask his

illegal status. Proof of legal status would have to be volun-

teered and no researcher can demand such information of an

uncooperative subject. Moreover, substantial numbers of

illegals may be highly mobile and may not have one fixed

address for a long period of time. Therefore, even locating

a random sample of this population poses almost insurmountable

difficulties.

A second problem is the absence of a suitable interview

environment. Two of the studies reviewed were based on inter-

views conducted at INS detention centers with groups of

apprehended illegal aliens.

*Prepared and submitted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

- 126 -

The North-Housto,m study used 793 apprehended illegal •,

aliens, 16 years of age or older who had worked for wages for

at least two weeks in the United States. Any sample taken

from the population of apprehended illegal aliens is automati­

cally biased by current INS enforcement strategy. The number

of illegal aliens apprehended by INS at a certain time in a

certain place varies with any number of factors, including

local priorities, the types of "leads" on hand, the amount of

money available for detention and deportation, detention space

available, INS manpower available, etc. It should also be noted

that any group of apprehendees will overstate the proportion of

Mexicans in the overall illegal alien population due to INS

enforcement policy. Because of these numerous factors which

affect INS apprehensions, it is impossible for apprehensions

to reflect the illegal population as a whole.

For example, far less detention space (if any) is avail-

able for the detention of females, and INS policies on

transporting females are sufficiently cumbersome so that there

is a tendency not to apprehend women when the number of males

that can be apprehended already exceeds the capabilities of

the available INS manpower. This operational reality influences

not only the data obtained in the North-Houstoun study about

sex, but also all other data obtained, especially that on the

participation of illegal aliens in the labor market, and in

the tax, social security, health, education, and welfare

systems. Unemployment runs higher for certain ioreign-born women,

- 127 -

and it is therefore quite possible that more women may be at

home rather than in places of business which are more likely

targets for INS enforcement efforts because of the greater

likely pay-off. Moreover, the unemployed are far more likely

recipients of welfare, food stamps, health benefits, etc.

The unemployed illegal aliens group was not, however, touched

by the study. Because the group surveyed by the North-Houstoun

study had been employed, it can be concluded that this study

is significantly biased against indicating any impact illegal

aliens might have on welfare or social services.

Pursuant to a 1972 study by the Mexican Government, 22/

researchers interviewed persons at the border who were return-

ing voluntarily. Illegal aliens from Mexico may misrepresent

where they live in Mexico because they wish to avoid being

returned to the interior. For some obvious reasons, some

apprehended illegals may not want to discuss how, when, and

where they crossed the border, or how much they had earned.

22/ After a meeting in June of 1972 between Presidents Nixon and Echeverria, both countries established interdepartmental study commissions to analyze and evaluate the problems posed by Mexican migration to the United States. The Mexican group, during the course of its study, interviewed several returning Mexican migrants who were granted voluntary departure. Because of this factor alone, this study suffers from the same problem of representativeness that similar United States studies have suffered from, also. This study will be referred to through­out the chapter.

- 128 -

Probably the closest thing to a suitable environment was

present in the small scale study performed by Dr. Wayne

Cornelius. Persons who had returned from illegal work in

the United States were interview~d at home in Mexico. Yet,

these people may differ in significant ways from illegal aliens

who do not return home. Interviewers explained that they

were not representatives of the Government of Mexico and

would keep responses confidential. However, the study was a

collection of preliminary findings of a 22-month study. This

particular phase covered a period of 15 months. The findings

were tentative since a final seven-month phase was yet to be

completed. The research was carried out in small communities

ranging in size from 490 to 4,500 inhabitants and covered

only one state in Mexico. The author points out that the

findings of a case study of the type conducted are always

subject to challenge on the grounds that the communities

selected for inclusion in the study were not in some way

representative of the majority of rural communities in Mexico

which serve as points of origin for migrants to the United

States. Most of the persons interviewed, who migrated to the

u.s. were single men. Married men interviewed did not take

their wives and children with them. The author is also quick

to point out that persons being interviewed during this study

were those who had successfully entered the u.s., had been

-- 129 -

employed, and had remitted part of their earnings to families

at home.

Another problem is that studies tend to stress the

undocumented worker from Mexico. This is certainly the largest

single group, but it is unlikely that it forms as large a

percentage as is commonly perceived. In this profile, studies

limited to illegal aliens from Mexico will be separated from

studies which attempt to treat the wider spectrum of nation­

ality. Nonetheless more must be known about the Mexican

migration.

In reviewing illegal Mexican immigration to California,

W. Tim Dagodag conducted a study of migration from a number

of Mexican states to one United States state (California),

basing the study on data collected by INS from apprehended

illegal aliens. As described previously, this approach will

severely bias the male-female distribution, a factor recognized

in the study. Further, over 77% of the surveyed were apprehended

with 72 hours of their illegal entry into California, a period

of time too short for a high percentage to either locate

employment or to have access to the American social support

system. All of those in the study were either currently

employed or were actually seeking employment, presenting

significant potential competition for those segments of society

least able to protect themselves.

- 130 -

Another approach is represented by the San Diego County

study which is based primarily on "best estimates" made by

the various county agencies and anecdotes, rather than

statistical methodology. The methodology consisted largely

of interviews with "knowledgeable persons," i.e., members of

the San Diego Immigration Council and their various contacts

within the county agencies and in county community affairs.

In the few cases where samples were taken, they were often

too small to provide statistically sound results or were not

chosen randomly. It also appears from the report that each

agency and person interviewed may have.had varying interpreta­

tions of the definition of illegal aliens. The need for a

clear and concise understanding of the parameters of the illegal

alien population is especially crucial in a border county where

there is also a considerable legal Hispanic popula.tion and

where there may also be a "permanent" illegal alien popula­

tion. Also, cases cited do not reflect the impact of illegal

aliens on entire county social systems in many cases, but

rather relate to the estimated impact on one particular school

or hospital.

Even if based on sound estimates the San Diego study is

specific only for an area with a major influx of illegal

Mexican aliens and an influx of very few non-Mexican aliens.

It is impossible to generalize this unique border experience

- 131 -

to any other area, especially to the illegal alien population

at large.

With the above qualifications and problems in mind, we

in no way intend to endorse these studies but instead qave

found them to provide a reasonable basis for certain tentative

judgments. INS is currently conducting a Residential Survey

as a key component of a research program on illegal immigration.

The survey is the first attempt to collect data on the number,

characteristics, and impacts of illegal immigrants on a

national scale. ~ The results will be very helpful to

increased understanding of impact questions.

B. DEFINITIONS

"Entry without Inspectiq~," (EWI) will b~_.;_used to designate

persons who enter surreptitio,~sly. "Visa abuser" will be

used to designate all individuals ~\fhO enter with a legal docu­

ment but then violate the terms of that document, or anyone

else who uses fraudulent means to gain entry to the United

States. "Western Hemisphere" (WH) refers to independent countries

of North, Central and South America as well as those of the

Caribbean. "Eastern Hemisphere" (EH) refers to any independent

country not included under Western Hemisphere. Colonies and

23/ The Survey is to be conducted in the twelve most populous states: California, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, Florida, Massachusetts, Indiana, and North Carolina.

- 132 -

dependencies are counted as part of the country with which

they have that relationship. The terms illegal alien and

undocumented worker are used interchangeably.

C. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

A review of data relating to personal characteristics

can be extremely useful in assessing the impact of the presence

of the illegal alien. For example, if the population is

young, we can predict that the group will not place heavy

demands on services for the aged in the near future. If the

population is predominantly male, we can expect that demands

on hospital maternity facilities would be small.

Nationality

There is little data available on the national origin of Ji' the illegal alien populat1on. The most comprehensive data

is the numbers of deportable~aliens apprehended by the INS.

Ninety percent of apprehended illegals are Mexican citizens.

The non-Mexican apprehended groups breaks down as follows:

fy, Percentag:e Number

Canada 12% 9,362

British West Indies & Belize 7% 5,512 ·Greece 6% 4,619 China 5% 4,204 Dominican Republic 5% 3,601 Philippines 4% 2,804 United Kingdom 3% 2,334 Others 59% 45,750*

*Only countries with over three percent representation in this population have been included. Because of rounding, percentages add up to 101%. (INS, 1975)

- 133 -

While it is reasonable to assume that Mexican nationals

form the largest element within the illegal alien population,

it is probable that they constitute far less than ninety

percent. Several researchers have suggested that the true

percentage is closer to sixty percent, but this estimate

appears to be no better than an educated guess. (North, 1976)

As previously mentioned, the apprehension rate is biased by

the emphasis of the INS enforcement activity. It is also

biased by the ease in identification of many Mexicans on the

basis of racial characteristics. Another aspect of enforcement

efforts which may further skew the figures is that the INS

spends relatively little effort in attempting to locate visa

abusers. If we are to believe the findings of certain studies,

fewer Mexicans are in the visa abuser category. (North, 1976) 24/

A recent study done under contract for INS concerning

fraudulent use of immigration documents has some nationality

data. Inspections of documents for the study were made on a

random sample of applicants for admission at 10 major inter-

national airports and the 12 largest ports of entry on our

Southern land border. Nationality breakdowns are not avail-

able for the land port group. Of those malafide entries

2'fHere and elsewhere the term "visa abuser" excludes Mexican citizens who, under pretext of shopping on the u.s. side, are actually employed. No data are available on the size of this group,but it may be substantial.

- 134 -

through airports, 57% came from countries bordering the

Caribbean excluding Mexico; 14% came from Mexico, 17% came

from Europe; and 5% came from South America. (Fraud.

Entrants, 1976}

Origin Within Country of Citizenship

Information has been discovered relating to the regional

origin of some illegal aliens within their country of citizen­

ship. Unfortunately, such data are limited to Mexico. This

information will be useful in selecting sites for further

research on "push" factors. It may also be useful in consider­

ing new techniques for the identification of illegals in

enforcement activities.

Forty-six years ago, Manuel Gamic identified the states

of Michoacan, Guanajuato and Jalisco as the primary sending

areas of Mexico for both legal and illegal immigrants. (Gamic,

1930) Studies done during the last few years have come to

essentially the same conclusion. A study based on the analysis

of apprehension forms for the Chula Vista sector (California)

identified two of the states mentioned by Gamic as the source

of forty-eight percent of the aliens apprehended (Jalisco and

Michoacan). (Dagodag, 1975} A second study conducted by

the Mexican Government along the length of the border revealed

that fifty-seven percent of those who had been apprehended

- 135 -

were from six states. Three of the states were the same as

those cited by Gamio. The others were Chihuahua, Baja,

California and San Luis Potosi (Mexico, 1972). The 1968

Border Study Project directed by Julian Samora cited Gamio's

three states and added Chihuahua and Durango as the source of

more than fifty percent of the migration. (Samora, 1971)

While the findings of these four studies are not absolutely

consistent in that they rank the states differently, the

degree of similarity of their findings over a forty-six year

period is remarkable.

Perhaps even more valuable than data on state origin,

is the data gathered by the Mexican Government on the origin

by "municipio". There there are 2,338 "municipios" in Mexico,

more than fifty percent of the persons interviewed were from

82 "municipios".

Several studies have also pointed out that the areas from

which many illegal aliens come are precisely those areas

which provided the bulk of the "braceros" during the life of

that program (1942-1964). One researcher has suggested that

the "bracero" program in a sense never stopped, but merely

went underground. (Cornelius, 1976}

Age

The available studies indicate that the group is pre­

dominantly a young one and consequently is very active in.

- 136 -

the labor market. If the average age is indeed less than

thirty, the group will probably continue to be active for more

than thirty years {provided, of course, that these individuals

remain in the United States) •

The only study which deals with the age of illegal aliens

across the board sets the average at 28.5 years. (North, 1976}

The average age of illegals who seek to enter the u.s. at

Southern land ports with documents that are fraudulent or with

the intent to violate terms of the visa is 27 to 28 years.

Those entering through international airports have an average

age of 30. (Fraud. Entrants, 1976) Other studies dealing

only with the Mexican illegal come to similar conclusions.

Some of these are: "mean age", 29, (Dagodag, 1975); 61.4%

between the ages of 18 and 29, (Mexico, 1972); predominantly

17-29, (Cornelius, 1976); more than 70% under 30, (Samora,

1971) • 2..5.1

Sex

The percentage of males vs. females in the illegal alien

population may affect the impact that the group has on the

labor market. It may also indicate the present and future

impact on social institutions such as schools and health care

~ If the probability of being apprehended decreases the longer one has been in the u.s., older illegal aliens are underrepresented in arrest data.

•

- 137 -

facilities.

Several studies and anecdotal data indicate that the

illegal alien population is overwhelmingly male (about 90%).

However, these data are based on apprehended illegal aliens

and are therefore suspect. INS maintains no overnight deten­

tion facilities for women and consequently concentrates its

efforts on the apprehension of males (except for individuals

apprehended or turned back in the border zone).

Fraudulent Entrants Study found that for the malafide

applicants denied entry at the studied land ports, 55 percent

were women. At the airports studied, 45 percent of the mala­

fide applicants denied entry were women. These data are based

upon a random sample. They challenge the 90 percent male

estimate at least for those who do not enter surreptitiously

between ports of entry.

Based on his interview sample, North at first appears to

accept the nine to one ratio. However, he concludes that the

ratio is probably not accurate. He points out that in a study

he did in 1975 for the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration,

40 percent of the unapprehended illegal aliens identified were

women. Of the 51 unapprehended illegal aliens he interviewed

in the 1976 study, 41 percent were female. Of the 344 married

apprehended aliens he interviewed in the 1976 study, 135 said

that they had a spouse in the United States. While no data

- 138 -

are available to indicate whether the spouse is also here

illegally, a substantial percentage are likely to be illegals. 26/

Educational Level

The educational level of the illegal alien is a parti-

cularly important area of consideration in evaluating the

impact of this population on the labor market. It can be

assumed that the nature o; employment and wages which the

illegal alien obtains in the u.s. will bear some relationship

to his or her educational level. However, the North study

indicates that many illegal alien white-collar workers are

employed in blue collar positions in the U.S. (North, 1976),27;

The average number of years of formal education found by

North, among apprehended illegal aliens, was 6.7 years. However,

for the Eastern Hemisphere, the average number of years was

11.9 (about the U.S. average) • The average for Mexican

nationals was_4.9 years. Other studies have also indicated

26/ Regarding the North Study, it is imperative to keep in mind that their sample of apprehended illegal aliens w~s not . random. A criterion for selection in that study was that all' persons interviewed had to have worked for at least two weeks , in the United States prior to apprehension. Because this sample group was apprehended illegal aliens, most of the members were men.

~/ Occupations may require different skills in different countries. A white collar clerk in Mexico may find that a lack of fluency in English limits him to blue collar work in the u.s. Or skills sufficient in country of origin may not be sufficient in the u.s.

- 139 -

a very low average for Mexican illegal alien workers. (North,

1976; Samora, 1971; Mexico, 1972)

Since the educational level of many illegal aliens

appears to be low, these individuals would probably find

employment in unskilled jobs. The social impact of their

presence would be similar to that of other workers in such

jobs.

Marital Status

The marital status of the undocumented worker population

could be an important indication of potential for social

impact by suggesting permanence (if the illegal alien is

married and brings spouse); disruption of family (if married

and does not bring spouse); potential for regularization of

status (if the individual is seeking a spouse) and the possi­

bility of changing from an illegal status to a legal status

(if the individual marries a citizen even though the original

intention was not to stay permanently).

The one study which deals with this subject for the

illegal alien population as a whole, indicated that thirty-six

percent of the twenty-five to thirty-four age group was single.

(North, 1976)

The Fraudulent Entrants study developed marital status

information only on the individuals who entered through inter­

national airports. A majority of both sexes (58.9% and 56.6%

of women) were single.

- 140 -

Studies relating to Mexican undocumented workers of all

ages also indicated high percentages: 52 percent single (of

the entire group of 2,794), usually single (group of 75),

62.3 percent single (group of 1,539) and 46 percent single

(group of 493). (Mexico, 1972; Cornelius, 1976; Dagodag,

1975; Samora, 1971)

In addition to the importance of marital status as an

indicator of permanence, this factor will also affect the way

the individual impacts on the community.

Language Ability

English language ability directly affects how an illegal

alien will interact with the community. It is thought to be

a major determinant of the kind of employment he or she can

expect and also may influence his or her decisions as to where

to live.

The one study which provided information on language

ability for the overall group indicated that sixty-four percent

did not speak English. Among Western Hemisphere illegals the

percentage was nearly seventy percent. (North, 1976)

For the Mexican group, two studies provided some informa­

tion. Both reported that ninety percent of the group did not

speak English. (North, 1976; Samora, 1971)

One study also found that illegal aliens with a good

command of English were likely to have: (1) better jobs,

- 141 -

(2) less problem in avoiding INS, and (3) were likely to live

outside ethnic communities. (North, 1976)

Motivation

An individual who decides to emigrate illegally to the

u.s. may do so for a single reason or for several. However,

the primary reason for the decision of the majority of illegals

appears to be economic. This is attested to by INS data, e.g.,

number of apprehended illegals employed and number of illegals

apprehended while seeking jobs. It is also supported by anec­

dotal accounts. Additional supporting evidence for this

belief can be obtained by comparing economic conditions in

major sending countries with those in the u.s. (push-pull

factors). While employment opportunities for illegal aliens

in the U.S. may be poor by American standards, they are con­

siderably better than those in the country of origin.

Data obtained by North in his interviews of 793 appre­

hended illegals strongly supports this belief. Seventy-four

percent of those interviewed gave employment opportunities

as the reason for emigration. When the responses were broken

down by region of origin, however, some very interesting con­

trasts became apparent. Only twenty-three percent of Eastern

Hemisphere respondents said that they had entered to find a

job. Sixty percent of non-Mexican Western Hemisphere respondents

also gave this as a primary motive. In contrast, eighty-nine

-- 142 -

percent of the Mexican illegal aliens interviewed by North

gave employment as the reason for emigration. The other

responses for non-Mexican illegals interviewed by North were

as follows: 17% to study, 15% to see the u.s., 6.5% to see

relatives and 10% gave other reasons. (North, 1976)

Studies limited to Mexican illegals strongly emphasize

the economic nature of the motivation to emigrate. (North,

1976; Cornelius, 1976; Mexico, 1972; Samora, 1971) One study

suggested two additional reasons for emigration. These were:

a desire to escape parental authority and temporary emigration

to the U.S. as a local tradition. (Cornelius, 1976)

D. CHARACTERISTICS OF ENTRY

The breakdown by area of origin (Eastern Hemisphere v.

Western Hemisphere) confirms what we could logically expect.

Most illegals from the Eastern Hemisphere fall into the visa

abuser category, while Western Hemisphere illegals from Mexico

and Canada usually enter without inspection. Other Western

Hemisphere illegal aliens are more likely to be visa abusers.

Sixty-one percent of all illegals are apprehended within

seventy-two hours of entry. Most of these persons are Mexican

EWI's caught at the border or in the border zone. (INS, 1975)

Entry Without Inspection (EWI)

Eighty-eight percent of the illegal aliens apprehended

by INS are in this category. However, the pattern changes

- 14j -

dramatically when the origin of the undocumented worker is

taken into consideration. For example, very few Eastern

Hemisphere apprehended illegals are EWI's (2.4%). On the

other hand, twenty percent of Western Hemisphere illegals are

in this category if Mexico and Canada are excluded. Forty

percent of the Canadians are EWI's and ninety-six percent of

Mexicans are in this category. (INS, 1975)

A large percentage of illegals entering from Mexico

appear to be aided by smugglers. For a price, the smuggler

indicates when, where, and how a group should attempt to cross.

They are then met by a truck on the u.s. side. Transportation

can be arranged as far north as Chicago and services frequently

include some sort of forged document. It appears to cost

somewhere between $200 to $300 depending on the services

rendered. (Cornelius, 1976; Dagodag, 1975; Samora, 1971)

Visa Abusers and Malafide Entrants-

A visa abuser enters on a legal visa, but then overstays

or violates the conditions of his/her visa. Individuals in

this group are overwhelmingly non-Mexican. Visa abusers are

apprehended less frequently because of the nature of INS

enforcement efforts. The category represents about twelve

percent of the illegals apprehended. ~

28/ However, it should be noted that INS records indicate that Mexican unresolved departures total almost 400,000 since 1974. This data represents those holding documents.

- 144 -

A subcategory of visa abusers is malafide entrants.

This includes those attempting entry with counterfeit or

altered documents, as imposters, by false verbal or documented

claims to u.s. citizenship, or with valid documents, the terms

of which the bearer had or intends to violat~ usually to work.

It is estimated that in 1975 there were 12 to 14 times as many

successful malafide entries as there were entries denied.

These statistics relate to entries, not entrants and are

therefore not an estimate of population as one individual may

enter several times. However, these data mean that over

500,000 (ratio of 9:1 land port to airport) fraudulent entries

were made. This figure is exclusive of sea or Northern border

arrivals, those with bona fide intentions upon arrival who

subsequently violate terms of admission, and those entering

surreptitiously between ports. (Fraud. Entrants, 1976)

Others

Another group mentioned previously is those Mexican

citizens who live close to the border and commute daily to

jobs in U.S. border towns under the pretext of shopping in

U.S. stores. No data exists as to the number of persons in

this category but the group may be sizeable. W

~ One group related to this phenomenon, however, is known. Those holding cards that convey "commuter" privileges number approximately 45,000 on the Southern Border.

- 145 -

E. CHARACTERISTICS OF RESIDENCE

Where and how illegal aliens live in this country is of

concern in that it directly affects their impact on communities.

Unfortunately, the available information is limited and is·of

poor quality.

Location

Hard data on the location of illegal aliens within this

country are limited to apprehension figures. These, to a

considerable degree, are a function of the nature of enforce­

ment activity of the INS. At best they provide an extremely

rough indication of where the illegals are. Apprehension data

do, however, show that a change has taken place in the distri­

bution of undocumented workers. Illegals are now apprehended

in every state and in virtually every town. Substantial

numbers of Mexican illegals have moved successively northward

away from the border even though the largest concentrations

are probably still in the Southwest.

According to one researcher, the largest single element

in the illegal alien population on the East Coast is from the

island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic).

Another researcher divides the population into three elements:

(1} Mexican--residing mainly in California and the Southwest,

(2) other Western Hemisphere--mainly East Coast, and (3)

Eastern Hemisphere--predominantly East Coast. (Fiore, 1974;

North, 1976)

- 146 -

One 1972 study, based on interviews with 2,794 Mexican

illegal aliens departing voluntarily, indicated that appre-

hension took place in the following states:

Texas 44%

California - 25%

Arizona 10%

New Mexico - 8%

Illinois 3.3%

Residence With Other Illegal Aliens

North indicates that illegals are likely to reside with

other illegals. This was especially true with Mexican illegals

(53.9%) and also with those that spoke little English. (North,

1976)

Residence in Areas With High Percentages of Resident Aliens and Citizens of Similar Ethnic Background

Beyond the North data, little or no evidence has been

found to indicate that illegal aliens are concentrated nationally

in areas with high percentages of resident aliens and citizens

of similar ethnic background.

Bustamante and others have described the tension existing

between illegals and citizens of the same ethnic background.

Cornelius mentions that those illegals with relatives in the

U.S. may live with them but that this is probably not the

majority. Perhaps the best indication that there is some

- - 147 -

validity to this assumption is INS's success in making appre­

hensions in these areas. (Bustamante, 1976; Cornelius, 1976;

North, 1976)

Mobility

Data of several types are available from different

researchers which indicate that the illegal alien is highly

mobile and frequently returns to his/her country of citizen­

ship. This can be interpreted as proof of the continuing

strength of his/her ties to his/her native country. One

researcher reported that apprehended illegals returned to

their country of origin an average of 2.1 times during a five

year period.

Apparently, Mexican nationals have a much higher return

rate than non-Mexicans. Mexican illegals returned home on

the average of 4.5 times during the last five years. Another

study indicated that the average length of stay in the u.s.

for Mexican undocumented workers was six to eight months.

(North, 1976; Cornelius, 1976)

Wase Remissions

Frequent remission of part of a worker's earnings to a

relative in the country of origin is another indication often

cited as proof of the strength of ties with the country of

citizenship. One study dealing with illegal aliens of all

- 148 -

nationalities indicated that seventy-five percent of the

apprehended illegals interviewed stated that part of their

wages were sent home to help support a relative. (North, 1976)

Other studies of Mexican nationals indicated a high wage

remission rate. A 1972 study of voluntary departues indicated

that 52% sent wages home by mail. Another study tended to

confirm this. (Mexico, 1972; Cornelius, 1976)

F. CHARACTERISTICS OF WORK PLACE

Exploitation

For obvious reasons illegals are vulnerable to exploita­

tion by unscrupulous e~ployers. They can hardly afford to

report substandard work-related housing or dangerous working

conditions to OSHA nor could they report minimum wage viola­

tions even though they are theoretically protected. Numerous

horror stories circulate regarding employers who report

illegal aliens to INS in order to avoid paying wages. While

there can be no doubt that these circumstances do occur, it is

difficult to say how widespread the pattern is.

One study based on interviews with illegal aliens of

different nationalities, reported that twenty-three percent

of the workers were paid at less than the minimum wage. The

same study reported that eighteen percent of the workers

interviewed felt that they had been hired because they were

illegal aliens. (North, 1976)

- 149 -

The study done by the Mexican Government in 1972

revealed that although eighty percent of those interviewed

stated that they were willing to go back to the u.s., sixty-

seven percent reported they were not paid regularly and/or

were still owed wages when apprehended. (Mexico, 1972)

Availability of Jobs

Many of the illegals apprehended by INS are discovered

at their place of work. While no clear indication of the

success rate of undocumented workers in finding employment is

available, some information is available for the Mexican group.

Some studies indicate that a number of illegal aliens

have considerable difficulty in finding jobs. One study

reported that finding a job presented far more difficulty for

the illegal alien than eluding the INS. A second study indicated

that only forty-seven percent of the voluntary departures

interviewed were able to find a job. An earlier study indi­

cated that most illegals are unsuccessful in locating a job.

(Cornelius, 1976; Mexico, 1972; Samora, 1971) 30;

G. USE OF SERVICES

It has frequently been alleged that illegal aliens produce

a substantial drain on public services such as welfare, food

stamps, hospital care, public education, etc.

30/ Again, this information may be biased by the groups we are dealing with in the samples.

- 150 -

Several of the studies which base their conclusions on

hard data contradict this assertion. For example, a study

done in San Diego County indicates that of 9,132 welfare cases,

only ten were known to be illegal aliens. The same study

reports that in Los Angeles, of 1,400 cases, only fifty-six

were found to be illegal aliens. In San Diego, indications

were also found that the problem of.illegal aliens partici­

pating in public education, hospital services and food stamps

was minimal. (San Diego, 1975)

Additional information on this topic was obtained from

an HEW document which reported error of less than .7 percent

in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children {AFDC) program

due to citizenship-alienage problems. (HEW, 1975)

The North study also indicated that the problems of use

of public services by illegal aliens was minimal. However, it

is likely that the North study understates the problem since

all persons interviewed worked for at least two weeks in the

u.s. prior to apprehension. Of the persons interviewed by

North, only .5% had received welfare, 1.5% had received food

stamps, 4% had collected unemployment and 27% had used hospitals

and clinics. Of the 27% who had used hospitals and clinics,

83% reported that they had paid for the care themselves, or

that it was paid for by the employer or by a health insurance

plan. In consequence, only 4.6% of North's interview population

had received free health care. (North, 1976)

- 151 -

Another study dealing with Mexican illegals indicated

that only thxee out of thirty persons interviewed received

unemployment benefits. None of the persons had ever received

food stamps, welfare or medical benefits. (Cornelius, 1976)

H. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE TAX BASE

Obviously, illegal aliens pay sales tax and consequently

contribute to the tax base. In addition, there are indications

that many illegal aliens may pay income tax. The same is true

of Social Security taxes. According to North, seventy-three

percent of all illegals he interviewed had income tax with­

holding deducted from their salaries and seventy-seven percent

had Social Security deductions taken out. Perhaps more sur­

prising was the fact that thirty-two percent had actually

filed tax returns. However, it has been pointed out that

some illegals claim more than an appropriate number of

deductions for dependents. No indication has yet been found

of how widespread this practice is. (North, 1976)

Somewhat contradictory information was developed during

a 90-day test conducted by IRS on apprehended illegal aliens

in INS detention centers. Of the 1,699 illegals interviewed,

1,090 had outstanding income tax liabilities. The total

amount owed in that test was $247,696, an average per subject

of about $140. As a result of this high.frequency of

- 152 -

non-compliance, (of modest average amounts), the IRS is currently

studying compliance among employers known to hire illegal aliens.

The results of this review are as yet unavailable. (See pages

102-104).

I. SUMMARY

Based on the above discussion, we must conclude that

research on illegal aliens is very much in its infancy. In

spite of the limitations and deficiencies, certain guides to

future research are evident. Although this chapter has not

attempted to discuss stage(s) of settlement, this aspect of

migration may bear a major relationship to the impact brought

about by illegal migration. Because of our lack of knowledge

we have not used the soft portrait to predict which stage(s)

we may be experiencing. A discussion of settlement stage(s)

appears in Chapter VI of the report. In instances where there

is considerable agreement among researchers, those points of

agreement can be used to formulate hypotheses. Some of the

hypotheses emerging from this review are:

1. The principal impact of the presence of illegal

aliens at this time is likely to be on the labor

market rather than on social services. The nature

of the impact may be dependent upon the stage of

settlement of various groups of illegals. In the

early stages, the illegals tend to be young,

single and male. In the latter stages, they tend

to have families and remain permanently.

- 153 -

2. A significant percentage of the earnings of

illegal aliens is remitted to the country of

origin.

3. Mexican migration may be very different from

that originating in other countries by method

of entry, motivation, frequency of return,

education and language ability, and male­

female configuration.

- 154 -

CHAPTER V - DOMESTIC IMPACT OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

In addition to the international forces which establish

migrations of people, the domestic impact of illega~ aliens

must be analyzed. As we have noted in Chapter IV, research

on illegal aliens is still in an embryonic stat~making an

exposition of impacts not only difficult but tentative.

Nevertheless, some basic outlines of the socio-eqonomic

dimensions of this issue can be developed from available

research, comparison groups and standard social and economic

theory.

Recognizing that (a) the heart of any dramatic policy

shifts is likely to be a function of domestic impact and that

(b) domestic impact is a vast area of inquiry, the task forces

have developed only select themes consistent with the pre­

liminary nature of this project. Presumably, as better infor­

mation and greater awareness develops, our view of the illegal

alien issue will be increasingly influenced by measures of

their impact.

The Issues of Employment and Earnings

This section presents hypotheses as to the impact of

illegal aliens on the labor market and the income of others,

a comparison of the demographic and occupational distribution

of the illegals with those of legal immigrants, a discussion

of the earnings of immigrants and a discussion of guest worker

programs in the United States and Europe.

,_

- 155 -

A. HYPOTHESES

Much of the concer~ with regard to illegal aliens

focuses on their impact on the labor market. and the

resulting effects on the economy as a whole. One concern

has to do with the effect on the economy's total output,

Gross National Product (GNP). The other is with the

impact on the distribution of real income, that is,

on relative wages, profits and prices.

GNP and Relative Incomes

Economic theory does suggest hypotheses as to the

impact of the presence of, or an increase in the number of,

illegal aliens. The total real output (GNP) produced by

the economy increases in response to the greater employment

supply due to immigration, whether legal or illegal.

Even the total real income of those already residing in 31/

the United States increases.-- However, the gain in

real income is not shared uniformly.

As relative wages for illegal aliens decline in response

to an increase in their labor supply, the owners of firms

employing illegal aliens and the consumers of the goods pro­

duced by illegal aliens tend to gain through higher profits and

lower prices, respectively. On the other hand, the relative

31/ This follows from the standard assumption of a declining marginal product of labor. The marginal product of labor declines if the extra output from an extra million workers decreases as the size of the labor force increases, other factors held constant.

- 156 -

wages of legal resident workers who are close substitutes in

employment for the illegal aliens also decline. They suffer

a loss in earnings that is not likely to be fully compensated

by the decline in the prices of goods and services that illegal

aliens produce or by increases in the return on their nonlabor

assets. In short, many residents may gain a little at the

much greater expense of a few. Historically,public policy has

attempted to protect the interests of those upon whom such

burdens fall and this analysis is not intended to suggest

departures from this principle.

As will be shown below, apprehended illegal aliens

tend to be low skilled. And during the first few years

in the United States, immigrants in general tend to be

less productive than native born persons of a similar

age and schooling, as the immigrants are not familiar

with the language, skills and customs relevant to u.s.

labor markets. If the illegal aliens are in fact

low skilled, then low skilled legal resident workers

are likely to be close substitutes for them in

employment. Consequently, the increase in the

relative supply of unskilled workers brought about

by the presence of illegal aliens would tend to

depress the real and money wages of unskilled workers.

- 15"/ -

But this same presence implies a decline in the proportion

of skilled workers in the labor force, and the relative

wages of skilled workers to unskilled workers will therefore

tend to increase.

The lower real wages for all low skilled workers as

a result of the illegal immigration of low skill workers

could appear as either a slower growth in money wages or

a deterioration in working conditions. The latter effect

is more likely if there is a floor under money wages, for

example, because of minimum wage legislation. Workers

can be expected tozespond to a deterioration in working

conditions in a manner similar to their response to lower

money wages.

The relative decline in wages in the occupations

that are intensive in lower skilled illegal alien labor

would encourage legal resident workers to leave these

sectors, and this occupational change is sometimes referred

to as the displacement effect. Some of these workers

would go to other lower skilled jobs and tend to depress

wages there. Others, however, would acquire training to

qualify for higher skilled jobs, as the financial return

to training has increased. While still others (particularly

the aged and married women with young children) would tend

to drop out of the labor force.

- 158 -

The decline in the earnings and employment of low

skilled workers would result in an increase in transfer

payments. Experienced workers who become unemployed

would qualify for unemployment compensation benefits.

Some older workers would apply for social security. Low

income families would qualify for Food Stamps, and possibly

AFDC, among other programs.

In the past there has been much concern with the

outflow of dollars from the United States. This arose

because during a period in which the Government was

attempting to defend fixed exchange rates, an increase

in the short-term net outflow of dollars could have serious

balance of payments difficulties, and result in substantial

manipulation of the domestic economy. In the current

era of flexible exchange rates, however, such problems 32/

disappear·in the long run. --

There is also a concern a~ong some that the "leakage"

of u.s. dollars due to immigrant remittances has an adverse

effect on u.s. employment and output. This is not the case

as ultimately other countries use these U.S. dollars to

buy u.s. goods and services. As far as domestic output

and employment are concerned, it does not matter whether

a U.S. resident spends $100 in the United States or a

foreigner who received this money from a u.s. resident

spends $100 for U.S. export.

32/ The impact of the short run adjustment process is ambiguous.

- 159 -

Unemployment and Job Vacancies

There is substantial concern that illegal aliens reduce

the number of jobs available for legal workers# and thereby

create unemployment for legal workers. Some even imply that

this occurs on a one-for-one basis. This view# however# is

based on the assumption that there are a fixed number of jobs

in the economy, and giving one person a job implies denying

it to another. As long as relative wages can respond to

changing relative supplies of different types of labor, an

increase in the size·of the illegal alien population per ~

will not increase unemployment in the long run. There may#

however, be some short-run impact as legal residents may have

to engage in a somewhat longer job search process until they

adjust to the new situation.

The unemployment impact is heightened when there is a

floor under wages and working conditions. If illegals work at

levels that just meet or violate Fair Labor Standards Act or

Occupational Safety and Health Act provisions, but natives

will not# employers would hire at least some illegals at

legal residents' expense. Furthermore, the violation of

such standards undermines the effectiveness of those protections

for native workers. The low skilled legal residents whose

productivity rests at the minimum

- 160 -

employment cost (the minimum wage plus the cost of

legally mandated fringe benefits and working conditions)

would have difficulty finding employment. They would

experience greater unemployment as they search for a job

opening. This adverse employment effect is likely to

be most severe for legal residents who are teenagers,

disabled, or clearly unskilled -- those who have the

lowest productivity. Some unemployment from this source

is not transitional, and can persist for a long time

especially if the legal minimum employment cost rises

at least as fast as average wages in the economy.

The argument is sometimes advanced that illegal

aliens do the jobs that all legal resident workers find

so distasteful that these jobs would not be filled if

th . 11 1 1 ' 3 3 I h . . . 11 1 ere were no 1 ega a 1ens.-' In t 1s v1ew, .~ ega

aliens are not substitutes in employment for legal workers

because the latter would not accept the jobs the illegals

fill. To attract legal workers to such jobs money wages

and working conditions would have to be increased by so

much that firms that now rely on illegal workers would

go out of business or substantially change their condi-

tions of employment through a substitution of capital

33/ The benefits received from income transfer programs may be sufficient to discourage legal '{vorkers from taking jobs that offer low wages and undesirable working conditions.

- 161 -

for labor. The curtailment of the use of illegal alien

labor may then have little effect on legal worker employ­

ment, but would raise costs to these firms and raise the

relative prices of the items they produce.

This view rests on the two assumptions that it

would take a very large increase in real wages to induce

legal workers to these jobs (inelastic labor supply) and

that the demand for these products declines sharply in

response to price increases (elastic demand for the item).

The argument was most forcefully raised in discussions

of the Bracero program, but as will be indicated below,

these fears were not well founded. Thus far

there is no evidence that these conditions apply to sectors

employing illegal aliens. However, more information is

needed about the illegal alien labor market before this

controversy can be fully resolved.

Taxes and Social Services

The gain to the resident population from addi-

tional immigration (legal or illegal) is reduced to the

extent that the taxes paid by immigrants (or in their

behalf by their employers) are less than the sum of the

extra cost to society of providing them with social services

and the extra burden they place_on the criminal justice

system. The taxes include income, payroll, property, sales

and excise taxes. Even if illegal aliens do not directly

- 162 -

pay property taxes, and if many evade income taxes, a smaller

proportion could evade paying social security taxes (see Chapter

IV). Social security taxes are the major source of Federal

tax revenue from low-income families. ~

Soc~al services include subsidized hospital care,

schooling for children, and welfare benefits. To the extent

that illegal aliens are predominantly adult but not a\ed '-1 --~ -

men, and to the extent that they seek to avoid contact with

government authorities, their use of social services would be

minimal and the extra cost to the taxpayers as a whole would

be .small. Chapter tv suggests on the basis of the research

performed to date that their use of social services would

seem to be minimal at this time. However, if low income K1

alien workers bring their families to the u.s., their use of

social services may exceed their contribution tothatform of

taxes.

Additional Hypotheses

A particular level of net migration may be observed

because there is a large turnover in the inunigration popu-~~).

lation, that is, many migrants return to their country of

origin after working in the United States for a .,short period

of time. The same net migration can also be observed

because of a gross inflow and little or no return migration.

The latter implies a longer average tenure in the 'united

States of illegal aliens. Since it is shown below that

34/ In 1976, the combined employer and employee Social Security tax is 11.7 percent of the first $15,300 of a worker's earnings.

- 163 -

tenure in the United States is an important determinant

of the productivity and earnings of migrants, these

different determinants of a given level of net migration

have different implications for the impact of illegal

aliens. At this time, however, there is too little data

to estimate the magnitude of the net and gross flows, or

the average tenure in the United States of illegal aliens.

Finally, a complete model of immigration should

treat net and gross flows of immigrants as endogenous.

Migrants tend to .respond to employment opportunities

in the United States, and in their country of origin. If

illegal aliens are responsive to employment opportunities,

their net migration rate would be lower during a recession

in the United States. Then, they may contribute little to

the growth in unemployment during a recession.

Although the gross and net effects of these factors

need to be quantified to test these hypotheses and to

estimate the economic impact of illegal aliens, the scanty

data currently available cannot provide definitive answers.

At most they can indicate the direction of some of the

effects.

- 164 -

B. DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF LEGAL AND ILLEGAL Iltf..MIGRANTS

If legal and illegal aliens are comparable demographically,

information on the former may provide for postulating about the

latter. The basic source of information on the characteristics

of foreign born residents of the United States is the 1970

Census of Population. These data indicate that of the 9.6

million foreign born residing in the United States, 4.4 million

(46 percent) are males. Of these males ages 16 to 64, 88

percent were in the labor force in March 1970. Similarly,

among foreign born women age 16 to 64, 47 percent were in the

labor force. The respective unemployment rates in March 1970

for the foreign born were 3.8 percent for males and 6.0 percent

for females, compared to 3.9 percent and 5.2 percent respectively

for the entire (native and foreign) population.

By way of ~omparison, the studies primarily of apprehended

illegal aliens cited in the Soft Portrait in Chapter IV suggest 35/

that the illegal alien population is predominantly male. --

This proport~on would probably be higher if the data were ~ ..

limited to illegal aliens who expect to stay permanently, but

it would still be a predominantly male population.

35/ The proportion of women among apprehended illegals may Ee less than among all illegal aliens because of INS apprehension policies.

- - 165 -

There is evidence that apprehended illegal aliens have

a high unemployment rate but are actively seeking work and

thus show a very high labor force participation rate. Based

on a small sample, North and Houstoun estimated that the 36/

unemployment rate from 1970-1975 averaged 10.2 percent.--

This study, as well as other studies on illegals, indicates

that the labor force participation rate is close to 100 per-

cent, that is nearly all are employed or actively seeking

employment. It appears that illegal aliens are a working

population rather than one that is largely unemployed or out

of the labor force.

These data imply that the unemployment rates and the

labor force participation rates of illegals exceed those of

the foreign born residents as reported in the Census. It is

not known, however, to what extent illegal aliens make them-

selves particularly vulnerable to being arrested when they are

without a job and are looking for work. Also, adjustments to

u.s. labor markets take time, and the apprehended illegals

tend to be relatively recent arrivals. It is not known to

what extent the unemployment rate of illegal aliens and the

·3-6/ David North and Marian Houstoun, "The Characteristics and Role of the Illegals in the u.s. Labor Market," Linton and Co. Inc., Washington, D.C., 1976. Their sample was limited to 793 non-randomly selected illegal aliens who had worked for at least two weeks prior to apprehension. Thus, labor force participation would be expected to be high. The sample consisted largely of apprehensions, although some had not been apprehended.

- 166 -

probability of being apprehended decline with tenure in the

United States. Given the age and sex distribution of the

illegal alien population (see Chapter IV) and fears of

potential deportation if they are detected by the authorities,

their high labor force participation rate is not surprising.

Table 1 compares the occupational distribution of the

male illegal aliens in the North-Houstoun study with that of

foreign born males (whose occupational distribution is similar

to that of all U.S. males). The table indicates substantial

occupational disparity between North-Houstoun's illegal

aliens and the foreign born residents. While nearly 80 per-

cent of the illegal population were employed in the generally

unskilled categories of nonfarm laborer, operative, service

worker, and farm worker, about 40 percent of the foreign born

males were similarly employed. The illegal aliens in the

North-Houstoun study are underrepresented in the professional

and managerial occupations (2.9 percent compared to 27.2

percent) • The occupational differences are somewhat smaller

in a comparison between the illegal aliens, who tend to be of

relatively short duration in the United States, and foreign 37/

born men who migrated between 1965 and 1970.--

37/ The apprehended illegal aliens are likely to be more recent arrivals because (a) apprehended illegals are either deported or made legal and the probability of having been apprehended sometime would increase with tenure in the United States, (b) the probability of being apprehended in a year may decline the longer one has been in the United States, and (c) illegal aliens may be more likely to have viewed migration to the United States as temporary.

- - 167 -

Table 1. Occupational Distribution of Employed Foreign Born Males Aged 16+ and Apprehended Illegal Aliens (%)

All Foreign Born Males Foreign Who Entered

Born Males 1965-1970 Occu12ation (1970) (1970)

White Collar Workers 39.6 37.7

Prof; Tech. & Kindred 16.9 22.4

Owners; Mgrs; and Admin. except Farm 10.3 5.3

Sales Workers 5.9 3.0

Clerical & Kindred Workers 6~5 7.0

Blue Collar Workers 45.1 45.8

Craft & Kindred workers 21.3 17.5

Operatives 17.8 21.4

Nonfarm Laborers 6.0 6.9

Service Workers 12.1 13.6

Farm Workers 3.2 3.1

Total 100.0 100.0

Sample Size (1) (1)

Note: Detail may not add to total due to rounding.

(1) Five percent sample of the u.s. population.

,)

Apprehended Illegal Aliens

(1975)

5.4

1.6

1.3

1.1

1.4

55.2

15.3

25.1

14.8

20.6

18.8

100.0

628

Source: Columns 1 and 2: 1970 Census of Population, Sub~ect Retorts PC(2)-1A, National Origin and Language -- Table 18, p. 66. Co umn 3: David North and Marian Houstoun "The Characteristics and Role of Illegal Aliens in the u.s. Labor Market," Linton and Co., Inc., 1976 Table V-3. See Footnote 36 on p. 165.

- 168 -

Table 2 compares the occupational distribution of

employed Mexican born male u.s. residents (all and those who

migrated between 1965 and 1970) with that of the North­

Houstoun sample of Mexican illegal aliens. The divergence

in the occupational distributions between the foreign born

and the North-Houstoun illegal aliens largely.disappears 38/

when the data are limited to recent arrivals from:~Mexico.

The four unskilled categories of nonfarm laborer, operative,

service worker, and farm worker accounted for 84 percent of

the Mexican illegals while 79 percent of the resident

Mexicans that entered in 1965-70 were in these classifications.

For professional and managerial occupations the proportions

were 0.5 percent for the illegals and 3.1 percent·for the

recent migrants. These distributions are very similar.

It must be noted, however, that the North-Houstoun

sample is not· a random sample of illegal aliens. It is not

known to what.extent their procedures would tend to bias their

sample in favor.·of persons with low occupational levels,

particularly farm workers •. In addition, their sample size

was very small.-.

' ' 38/ This is to be expected since the Mexicans were 65 percent Of the sample of illegals and 10 percent of the foreign born men who arrived between 1965 and.l970, and immigrants from Mexico have an occupational distribution that differs from that of other immigrants.

- - 169 -

Table 2. Occupational Distribution of Employed Males Born in Mexico and Apprehended Mexican Born Illegal Aliens (%)

Occupation

White Collar Workers

Prof; Tech & Kindred

Owners; Mgrs. and Admin. except Farm

Sales Workers

Clerical & Kindred

Blue Collar Workers

Craft & Kindred Workers

Operatives

Nonfarm Laborers

Service Workers

Farm Workers

Total

Sample Size

Born in

Mexico (1970)

11.7

3.2

3.0

2.3

3.2

61.2

18.8

27.4

15.0

11.5

15.6

100.0

(1)

Born in Mexico, Entered u.s.

1965-1970 (1970)

6.7

2.1

1.0

1.0

2.6

63.2

13.8

33.5

15.7

13.4

16.7

100.0

(1)

Note: Deta1l may not add to total due to rounding.

(1) Five percent sample of the u.s. population.

Apprehended Mexican Illegal Aliens ( 197 5)

1.2

0.5

0.7

54.8

14.3

22.6

17.9

16.9

27.0

100.0

407

Source: Columns 1 and 2: 1970 Census of Population, Subject Reports PC(2)-1A, National Origin and Language -- Table 18, p. 487. Column 3: David North and Marian Houstoun, "The Characteristics and Role of Illegal Aliens in the u.s. Labor Market," Linton and Co., Inc., 1976, Table V-5. See footnote 36 in p. 165.

- 170 -

In summary, from Chapter IV and this chapter it appears

that apprehended illegal aliens differ demographically from

the resident foreign born population. The apprehended

illegals are more likely to be young adult males, in low

skilled occupations, and unemployed. However, these

differences narrow dramatically when the comparisons of

illegal aliens with the foreign born are done separately for

persons of Mexican and non-Mexican origin, and when the

foreign born are recent immigrants. This suggests that use­

ful insights about male illegal aliens may be obtained from

analyses for the foreign born, if particular attention is

given to the effects of country of origin and tenure in the

United States. These conclusions must remain tentative and

preliminary, however, until we obtain more and better data

on the illegal population.

C. THE IMPACT

Th~ impact of illegal aliens on the U.S. labpr market is

diffLcult to assess because there is little information on

the number of illegal aliens in the United States, their

earnings, schooling and job training, their knowledge of

English, and their tenure in the United States. However,

legal immigration may pose many of the same problems associated

with illegal immigration. By combining an analysis of the

earnings and economic ramifications of immigrants in general

with what little is known about how illegal aliens differ

·-

- 171 -

from legal immigrants, one can draw inferences about the

earnings and labor market impact of illegal aliens. This

section first considers the earnings of foreign born men,

and the native born sons of the foreign born, to analyze

the effects of tenure in the United States and country of

origin and to see if they form a disadvantaged group. It

then discusses some aspects of the impact on others through

an examination of "guest worker" programs. 39/

Earnings of Immigrants --

Upon arrival illegal aliens may be at a greater earnings

disadvantage than foreign born persons who are legal residents

with similar skills and a similar tenure in the United States

because the former will tend to avoid situations that could

result in their illegal status being revealed to the

authorities. This earnings disadvantage may include wage

discrimination by employers who know or suspect that they are

illegals. It is likely, however, that over time, illegal

aliens learn how to mask their illegal status. This is

suggested by the large proportion of recent arrivals among

those apprehended by INS district office investigators. If

so, the earnings disadvantage of illegal aliens relative to

legal foreign born residents would diminish over time. Thus,

3W The analysis of the earnings of the foreign born and foreign parentage is based on Barry R. Chiswick, "The Effect of Americanization of Earnings," mimeo, July 1976, and uses data from the 1970 Census of Population.

- 172 -

the earnings history of foreign born persons may provide

useful insights into the likely experiences of illegal aliens.

Although the native and foreign born white men had

approximately the same annual earnings in 1969 (Table 3),

they differed in several important characteristics associated

with earnings. Foreign born men have a lower level of

schooling, a mean of nearly 11 years compared to a mean of

nearly 12 years for the native born. However, foreign born

men are nearly three years older and are more likely to live

in urban areas and outside the South. Although the average

annual earnings of the foreign born are 1 percent lower than

the native born, using regression analysis it is found that

for persons of the same schooling, age, marital status, and

place of residence, the foreign born have weekly earnings

that are 3 percent higher than those of the native born.

Among foreign born men the effect on earnings of an

extra year of schooling and an extra year of labor market

experience prior to immigration is lower than the effect of

schooling and experience for the native born. This may arise

because there are elements in the knowledge and skills acquired

in school and in job related training {labor market experience)

that are country specific. That is, knowledge and skills may

have a large impact on earnings in the country in which they

are acquired.

- 173 -

Table 3. Means of Earnings Related Characteristics of White Men Age 25 to 64 by Nativity Status 1 1969

Variable

1) Earnings ($)

2) Education (years)

3) Age

4) Weeks Worked

5) Percent Rural

6) Percent South

7) Percent Not "Married Spouse Present"

8) Percent Foreign Born

Number of observations

(a) All -- 36,245 (b) Native Born -- 34,321 (c) Foreign Born -- 1,924

All Men Native Born Foreign Born

9,734.09 9,738.13 9,662.01

11.84 11.90 10.83

42.92 42.77 45.64

48.16 48.22 47.16

29.39 30.39 11.49

28.03 28.88 12.89

14.76 14.66 16.53

5.31 0.0 100.00

Source: 1970 Census of Population, 1/1,000 Sample, 5 percent questionnaire.

- 174 -

Earnings rise with tenure in the United States for the

foreign born, presumably because after immigration they

acquire knowledge and skills that are specific to the United

States. Five years after immigration the foreign born have

earnings 10 percent lower than the native born (other things

the same), but earnings are approximately equal after 13 years ,

6 percent higher after 20 years, and 13 percent higher after

30 years. For this effect to emerge, among persons of the

same age, schooling and area of residence, the foreign born

would have to have more innate ability, motivation or other

earnings generating characteristics than the native born.

If the distribution of ability were the same in the United

States as elsewhere (schooling and age constant), this would

suggest a selectivity bias in migration -- that is, a tendency

for the migrants to be of disproportionately high ability or

highly motivated people.

There is an effect on earnings of the country of birth

of foreign born white men. For the same schooling, age, etc.,

country of origin is generally not related to weekly earnings,

with men from Mexico and Cuba being primary exceptions.

Compared to the earnings of other foreign born men those from

Mexico and Cuba have earnings that are lower by 33 percent

and 24 percent, respectively.

To determine the cause of the lower earnings for men born

in Mexico, these persons can be compared with native born men

. .

-

'

'

- 175 -

of Spanish surnw~e living in the five southwestern states.

Largely because they have less schooling and fewer weeks of

work during the year 1 men born in Mexico had annual earnings

that were 22 percent lower than the native born men of Spanish

surname. However, for men of the same age, schooling and

place of residence there was no difference in earnings. The

earnings of men born in Mexico are sensitive to the number

of years since migration to the United States. Although

initially the earnings of Mexican-born men are substantially

lower than for native born Spanish surname men, they rise

rapidly with tenure in the United States and reach equality

with that of native born Spanish surname men after 15 years,

and are higher thereafter. The Mexican/Spanish surname

analysis suggests that the earnings disadvantage of immigrants

from Mexico compared to other immigrants reflects problems

shared in common with native born Mexican-Americans. That

is, it is an ethnic group, rather than an immigrant group,

effect.

The Cuban born are geographically concentrated (urban

Florida) and are relatively recent migrants. At this time it

is too early to determine whether their lower earnings arise

from their being recent migrants and that this disadvantage

will decrease over time, or whether it reflects longer term

or permanent effects possibly arising from the different moti­

vation for migration than other recent immigrants.

I

- 176 -

There do not appear to be adverse second generation

effects. Men of foreign parentage have annual and weekly

earnings about 12 percent higher than men with native born

parents (Table 4). About one-half of this difference arises

because second generation Americans are less likely to live

in a rural area or in the South. The native parentage and

foreign parentage have a similar level of schooling.

Earnings are lower (by 2.0 to 4.5 percent) if a

language other than or in addition to English was spoken in

the home when the person was a child and it appears to matter

which parent is foreign born. Compared to persons with both

parents native born, those of foreign parentage

have earnings that are 7 to 8 percent higher if only the

father is foreign born, but there is not significant difference

if only the mother or both parents are foreign born. Persons

of Mexican parentage do have lower earnings, as is also true

of Mexican-Americans whose parents were born in the United

States. Again, this appears to reflect an ethnic group rather

than an immigration g·roup effect.

In brief, these findings sugges t that the earnings of

white foreign born men are not substantially different from

white native born men. Concerns that immigrants (or their

descendants) form a long-term "underclass" appear to be unfounded.

While immigrants from Mexico have lower earnings, this is also

'

'

- 177 -

Table 4. Means of Earnings Related Characteristics of Native Born White Men, Age 25 to 64, by Nativity of Parents, 1969

Variable

1) Earnings ($)

2) Education (years)

3) Age

4) Weeks Worked

5) Percent Rural

6) Percent South

7) Percent not "Mc;lrried Spouse Present".

8) Percent Father Foreign Born

9} Percent Mother Foreign Born

10) Percent Both Parents Foreign Born

11) Percent One Parent Foreign Born

12) Percent in which a Langauge other than English was Spoken in the Home

Number of observations (a) All -- 33,878

All

9,653.53

11.91

42.72

48.27

30.24

29.24

14.44

16.24

13.91

11.36

18.79

22.69

(b) Native Parentage-- 27,512 (c) Foreign PareQtage -- 6,366

N.A. -- not applicable

Both parents native

born

9,~41.93

11.92

41.71

48.27

33.14

33. 69,~0

'• I 14.55""

N.A.

N.A.

N.A.

N.A.

12.73

One or both parents

foreign born

10,567.98

11.85

47.08

48.28

17.70

10.37

13.96

86.41

74.02

60.43

100.00

65.76

Source: 1970 Census of Population, 1/1,000 Sample, 15 percent questionnaire.

'

- 178 -

true of Spanish surname people whose ancestors have lived in

the United States for many generations. The foreign born

initially have less training and knowledge specific to u.s.

labor markets, but this disadvantage appears to be overcome

as time passes and, other things the same, the foreign born

eventually have higher earnings than the native born.

The implication is that, if left undetected, illegal

aliens may experience a similar earnings history. Initially,

however, their attempts to evade the authorities may result

in somewhat lower earnings than legal foreign born residents.

Apprehended illegal aliens tend to be disproportionately of

Mexican origin and disproportionately recent arrivals and can

therefore be expected to have 'lower earnings than the overall

native born or foreign born population.

Bracero Program

The end of the Bracero Program in 1964 provided an

excellent opportunity to gain insight into the effects of a

reduction of immigration on the sectors that employ unskilled

aliens. Officially sanctioned use of Mexican nationals in

u.s. agriculture ran from 1941 to 1964 with statutory authori­

zation granted in 1949 (Public Law 78) . The use of braceros

was restricted to areas where the Secretary of Labor certified

that: (1) a shortage of bona fide domestic farm workers

existed; (2) the employer had unsuccessfully sought to hire

,

- 179 -

native labori and (3) the wages and work conditions of domestic

agricultural workers would not be impaired.

The peak period was 1955-59 with over 400 1 000 workers

annually. Employed in 30 states, 79 percent worked in Texas

and California with cotton as the major crop throughout the

period. During the last years (1960-64) the numbers declined

steadily. Demand for unskilled labor was sharply reduced by

mechanization, larger farms and capital intensive crops in

U.S. agriculture, as well as by stricter Department of Labor 40/

regulations governing the use of foreign nationals.--

A rise in farm wage rates in areas formerly using

braceros was one major result of the end of the Bracero

program. Nationally, the hourly wage rate for farm workers

not receiving room and board increased 2.9 percent per year

between 1955 and 1964. In 1965 it increased 5.6 percent,

the largest annual increase since the Korean War. The

sharp rise in wages in 1965 was a once-and-for-all effect as

the supply of u.s. labor adjusted to the new circumstances.

The decreased use of foreign farm workers expanded

employment for u.s. workers·by about 100,000 in 1965. At the

August peak, 86,000 more Americans were employed as seasonal

workers than one year earlier and unemployment for agricultural

labor fell to 4.8 percent from the 6.5 percent in the previous

year. This sharp decline in unemployment was temporary, a

40/ u.s. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Termination of the Bracero Program: Some Effects on Farm Labor and Migrant Housing Needs, Re2t. No. 77, June 1965, pp. 4-6.

,

- 180 -

short-term response to an unexpectedly tight labor market for

legal residents working in this sector. The U.S. balance of 41/

payments improved by an estimated $50 million annually.

The impact of the Bracero program was directly addressed 4.2.1

by a study of the cucumber industry in Michigan. Prior to

1964 the majority of cucumber pickers were Mexicans. Although

farm employers had claimed that u.s. workers would not pick

cucumbers, in actual practice, u.s. workers became available

as wages increased and nonwage provisions of employment

improved. Another consequence of the curtailed supply of

Mexican labor and the higher wages was an increase in the

capital-labor ratio, as growers increased their use of

mechanical harvesters. However 1 the increased costs of pro-

duction lowered the income of Michigan cucumber farm owners

and raised the price of cucumbers compared to what they would

have otherwise been.

Two empirical studies that have some bearing on these ul

issues are by A. Ericson and Brian Rungeling. They studied

the labor market impact of Mexican commuters who crossed the

41/ Final Report, California Farm Labor Panel to Secretary of Labor Wirtz, 12/1/65, L.A., Calif.

42/ John D. Mason, "The Aftermath of the Bracero: A Study of the Economic Impact on the Agricultural Hired Labor Market of Michigan from the Termination of Public Law 78" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1969).

43/ A. Ericson, "The Impact of Commuters on the Mexican American Border Area," Monthly Labor Review, 98 (August, 1970); Brian Scott Rungeling, "Impact of the Mexican Labor Commuter on the Apparel Industry of El Paso, Texas," (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Kentucky, 1969).

'

- 181 -

Mexican border daily to work in the United States. They found

that in the border cities where commuters are working, wages

were lower and unemployment rates higher than in the rest of

the border areas and the country as a whole.

The Bracero experience illustrates some important points

underlying the impact of immigrants. First, employers of alien

labor do not want the migration curtailed as this tends to

raise labor costs. Second, the U.S. workers' "disinclination"

for jobs usually held by alien labor declines as there are

improvements in wages and working conditions. Third, U.S.

workers may exaggerate the adverse employment effect of alien

workers by assuming that a job held by an alien necessarily

means one less job for a citizen.

European Guest Workers

The countries of northern Europe have in the last decade

made extensive use of imported labor for manufacturing and 44/

service jobs in a manner similar to our Bracero program.

It is sometimes suggested that this may serve as a model for

a u.s. guest worker program for nonfarm jobs. Although there

is little hard data on the impact of the European guest

workers, a review of the European experience may provide in-

sights into the likely effects of a similar program for the

United States.

44/ In Western Europe there are about 10 million foreign workers. The largest impact is in Switzerland where almost 1 million alien workers comprise one-quarter of the labor force.

- 182 -

The immigration to the more developed European countries

was in response to the rising real incomes and wages that

accompanied the economic growth in the post-World War II

period. The rising wages for low skilled workers would have

increased the cost of many goods and services, and provided

an incentive to bring in lower wage workers to mitigate the

low skill "labor shortage." Many believe that this contributed

to Europe's economic growth in the 1960's. With the slower rate

of economic growth in the 1970's and particularly the recession

triggered by the 1973 oil crisis, the relative importance of

guest workers has declined.

Opinions are shifting as to the long-term economic and

political benefits and costs of the guest worker programs.

Clearly, the workers migrate in response to jobs that would

presumably otherwise not be done or would be done at a higher

cost. When they first arrive, guest workers accept low wages,

come without their families and place few demands on the

social service structure. Thus wages for low skilled workers

are held down and existing industrial capacity is used more

productively than otherwise.

Many migrants initially perceived themselves as temporary,

seeking to save some money and then return to their native land.

They soon find that their goal to return home is overtaken by

the desire for the "good life" in the host nation, the high

living costs which make it more difficult to save than had

'

- 183 -

been anticipated. and by their acquiring skills that are"oq sd

productive in the host country. Although they are generally0 m

cultural and often ethnic strangers, many do not return after

the first few years and are eventually joined by their

families or marry into the local community. Once established,

other relatives and fellow villagers tend to join them. As

a result, the demands on housing and social services increase.

And, as they acquire skills and knowledge of the country they

become more competitive with native workers for jobs and

housing.

As a result of a growing number of guest workers, rising

ethnic (nationalistic) tensions, and the recent recession in

the developed countries, policies toward guest workers have

changed. However, the magnitude of the actual decline in the

use of guest workers is difficult to quantify. In November

1973, Germany announced an end to new guest worker migration.

In mid-1974, France followed. The Swiss have declared a

ceiling of 600,000 guest workers, down from 1 million, and in

Holland numbers are being cut severely despite economic advice

which calls a steady supply a stimulus to economic growth.

The Dutch government has articulated its stand in a compre­

hensive document which argues for stabilizing the present

foreign population through family reunion but then ending

migration, even at the expense of a diminution in growth.

The European experience suggests that beyond some point it may

'

- 184 -

be politically and socially, if not economically, better to

move capital and modern technology to unskilled labor in the

poorer countries, instead of bringing unskilled labor (and

the resulting social conflict) to the developed nations.

'

- 185 -

D. SUMMARY MID CONCLUSION

We would expect a large net inflow of illegal alien

workers to have an important impact on the economic conditions

of the u.s. resident population~ The illegal migration appears

to be in response to better job opportunities in the United

States than in the country of origin, and an inability to

acquire a legal status. With regard to the domestic economic

impact, the important questions are the nature and magnitude

of the effects on the total income received by the legal u.s.

population and on the distribution of this income through

changes in the occupational distribution, unemployment,

relative wages, profits and relative prices. Although quali­

tative statements can be made, given our limited information

on the size and characteristics of the illegal alien labor

force, and on the supply and demand responses in the markets

for factors of production and for goods and services, it is not

possible at this time to quantify these impacts.

To the extent that illegal aliens are predominantly lower

skilled workers, their presence tends to lower the wages and

working conditions of u.s. workers in low skilled jobs. In

the adjustment process, domestic unemployment tends to increase.

Over time, however, if the illegal aliens are able to mask their

illegal status they can acquire skills and knowledge more

relevant to U.S. labor markets arid their earnings would

increase. They then become more competitive with more skilled

U.S. workers.

I

- 186 -

The presence of these illegal alien workers tends to raise

the average real income of the legal resident population. This

effect is mitigated to the extent that the illegals' use of

social services and their impact on the criminal justice

system exceeds their contribution in the form of taxes. Most

apprehended illegal aliens are young adult males who seek to

avoid contact with the authorities. If they are representative

of the illegal alien population, the use of services by illegal

aliens is likely to be relatively small. However, if they were

to bring their families with them, their use of social services

might exceed the value of their taxes.

Public policies with regard to illegal aliens (and

the size of legal immigration) should take full account

of the effects on both the total income of the legal

population and the distribution of this income. However,

while fewer restrictions on immigration may increase the

average real income of the resident population, the

increase creates declining real incomes for those most

competitive with the new immigrants. Historically,

policy has been directed at minimizing or eliminating

such adverse effects.

'

- 187 -

This chapter has outlined the variables and parameters

of interest in a study of the eponomic impact of immigrants 1

whether legal or illegal. For many of these parameters a

priori analysis indicates the sign 1 or direction of the effect.

Further research is needed, however, to extend the theoretical

analysis and to quantify the relevant parameters. The latter

is essential for the estimation of the magnitude of net effects.

This type of analysis would provide insight into the optimal

size and structure of immigration, and serve as an aid in the

reevaluation of immigration policy.

- 188 -

CHAPTER VI - ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: SOCIAL ISSUES

The issue of employment and earnings of illegals

comprisesone important component of the domestic impact

of illegal aliens. A variety of other issues are presented

by the undocumented migration of large numbers of people to

the United States. Loosely defined as the social issues,

they are most keenly felt at the community level where they

affect in very basic ways thousands of individuals and

institutions daily. The framework within which the social

issues develop is an outgrowth or extension of the migration

principles discussed in Chapter II. It should again be noted

that migration is to some extent influenced by laws and

policies of host and sending nations. However, it is

fundamentally characterized by general principles and

patterns which transcend the particular institutions and

regulations of individual countries. This same theme applies

to re-settlement of population groups •

A. SETTLEMENT PATTERNS OF MIGRANTS .i5/

The movement of migrant workers from one country to

another proceeds in general according to four stages.

A.:S/ This section is based on Marshall, Ray, "Economic Factors Influencing the International Migration of Workers", Paper presented at Weatherhead Foundation, San Antonio, April 15, 1975; and Power, Jonathan, "Europe's Army of Immigrants", based on paper commissioned for International Institute for Environment and Development, 1974.

'

- 189-

1. Young, unmarried adults predominate having moved from rural areas of the sending country (ies). Often they find employment in the agricultural sector. The migrants' intention tends to be to remain temporarily and return home with enough money to improve life there. These workers are generally the more highly educated and aggressive of the working classes from which they originate.

2. Married men join the younger, unmarried adults attracted by stories of opportunity told by returning workers. In both the first and second stages, there is considerable movement back and forth between source and host countries and the host country invariably treats the workers as temporary.

3. Single adults marry natives of the host country and married men send for their wives and families to join them. Movement between countries declines. This stage is brought on by a basic change in aspirations, skills and acculturation of the worker. Sending country conditions no longer appear attrac­tive relative to life in the host country and hope for the future attaches to the new home. It is with the change in aspirations that the conditions which turn temporary workers into permanent residents are set in motion. The change in aspirations is fueled by the increased use of migrants in occupations other than those of the initial penetration point. Favorable experience by host country employers creates the continuing demand which renders the process self-sustaining.

4. Supporting populations of ethnic employers, religious leaders, social service agencies and small businesses appear. They cater to the new groups and are sustained by them.

Thus alien workers often first enter the host country

with the objective of earning money to gain particular

objectives and return home. While many return, many remain

undergoing a change in aspirations born of experiences and

conditions no longer compatible with realities in their

'

- 190 -

native country. This change is reinforced by positive

employer reaction to the use of foreign workers.

Host countries, on the other hand, tend to adopt

measures which restrict employment of migrants and their

pattern of movement to the second stage attempting to

maximize the productivity of the workers and minimize the

net burden of their non-working family members on the social

infrastructure and fabric of the host society. Restrictions

usually include limiting the employment of the aliens to

occupations native workers spurn. The general tendency of

native workers to move out of low status jobs is charac­

teristic of economic growth and creates a demand for immi­

grant workers to fill "undesirable jobs" which, if not

redefined, stimulate migration.

Despite the attempt, restrictions rarely succeed in

preventing permanent settlements. The social and economic

forces which bring about a change in the alien's aspirations

and job opportunities are greater than the attempts made to

check them. Employers will substitute foreign workers for

natives as quickly as possible. Friction between native

and alien workers tends to be minimal in a growing economy

but intensifies during times of unemployment. The competi­

tion for jobs exacerbates social relations, even though it

may increase the income of the native population as a whole.

Tension is magnified by the family settling features of stage

'

- 191-

three causing competition for housing and increased

participation in public programs. When racial and ethnic

differences enter in, conflict is even more likely.

OVer time, as the foreign worker's aspirations

incorporate those of the host country, his initial

satisfaction, and more particularly that of his children,

shifts to dissatisfaction with discrimination and a desire

to obtain equal rights. . The second generation acquires

greater skills and tends to shun the low status jobs

filled by their parents. The demand for cheap labor

remains, filled, presumably, by fresh suppl~es of

"temporary" foreign workers.

This model is based largely on the experience of

worker importation areas such as Europe and the Virgin

Islands. Though we cannot prove or disprove its

specific features at this time, the research which has

been done on U.S. illegal immigration (see Chapters IV

arid V) tends to support it. Most likely different

regions of the country, different ethnic groups and

different economic sectors are passing through divergent

points of the sequence simultaneously. Under certain

circumstances stages may even be bypassed. Nonetheless

it offers a framework for understanding some of the

social issues attendant to migration.

'

- 192

B. THE WELFARE ISSUE

Much of the attention which has been given to the illegal

alien turns on the question of enforcement, jobs, and welfare.

Social impact is generally treate.d via contentions that

illegals place substantial burdens on the welfare system.

Varying claims, not necessarily supported by hard data, have

been made by individuals and by local units of government on

this point. Some examples of these claims are:

A Los Angeles County grand jury recently

cited an annual cost of $3.7 million in

health care and welfare burdens caused by

illegals due to 3,500 aliens receiving

assistance. It stated that in 1975, $10.8

million was expended on medical car~ of

,illegals. HEW has been sent a bill for

this care as the county defines ·the problem

as a federal one.

Los Angeles County officials have estimated

that the termination of welfare to 2,600 illegal

aliens has saved $2.7 million in federal, state

and county funds.

New York City alleges that there are nearly

2 million illegals in the metropolitan area

~_, ... - 193 -

draining health, education and welfare services

for which revenue sharing funds, allocated on

the basis of U.S. Census counts, are insufficient.

They have called on the federal government to

remove the aliens or pay for the expenses the

impacted communities disproportionately incur.

San Diego County officials have stated that during

the years 1971-1975 approximately $1.9 million

has been spent on 943 illegal alien patients with

the largest category of care being deliveries of

babies.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service

frequently quotes a figure of $13 billion as the

national annual cost in services of illegal Rliens.

In the broadest sense, public services could include

police and fire protection, water and sewage treatment,

highway construction, the availability of parks and

recreational facilities and the enforcement of labor laws

which protect the rights and health of workers. Nelfare

refers to participation in one or more programs which

assist low income families -- General Assistance, Supple­

mentary Security Income, Medicaid, Aid to Families with

Dependent Children and Food Stamps, Social Security and

Unemployment Insurance. Families headed by males who are

'

- 194 -

not disabled and not aged cannot get benefits from these

programs with the exception of Food Stamps. Social Security

and Unemployment Compensation are also income transfer

programs but benefits are contingent upon prior contribution

through work rather than low income.

General Assistance

General Assistance is a wholly state-funded benefit

program for unemployable persons who are economically

disadvantaged. The programs are usually used to'provide

benefits to such individuals while their application for

participation in federal programs is pending. The regula­

tions governing General Assistance are different in each

state. While some establish citizenship requirements,

there is no information on whether or not a substantial

problem exists. However, since General Assistance is a

transitional program, illegal aliens would become subject

to federal program requirements as their applications are

processed. It is also a very small program. Therefore,

it is unlikely that any significant amount of assistance

is given to illegals under General Assistance.

- 195 -

Supplementary Security Income (SSI)

Title XVI of the Social Security Act establishes the

Supplementary Security Income program. SSI is designed to

"provide supplemental security income to individuals who

have attained age 65 or are blind or disabled." The legis-

lation prohibits the delivery of services to illegal aliens

by requiring that a participant be: ...

a resident of the United States and either (i) a citizen or (ii} an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence or other­wise in the united States under color of law (Section 1614(a)).

Although not legislatively mandated, the same requirement has

been adopted through regulation by the following programs:

Medicaid, Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Food

Stamps. As the data in Chapter IV suggests, few illegals

are aged and could not therefore get SSI benefits.

Medicaid

The Medicaid program is authorized by Title XIX of the

Social Security Act. Federal funds are made available to

supplement state funds in providing medical services to the

economically disadvantaged. While the legislation is silent

as to alienage/citizenship, HEW regulations specify that

reimbursement cannot be made for services to illegal aliens.

The language of the regulations is identical to that of the

Supplementary Security Income program. Some states have

'

- 196 -

requested reimbursement for expenditures in providing services

to illegal aliens arguing that:

1. To deny emergency room treatment to anyone is unconscionable

2. The denial of services to illegal aliens creates a potential health hazard for the entire population

3. Immigration law and consequently illegal aliens are a federal responsibility.

However, these arguments are not acceptable under current

regulations. Only AFDC and Social Security participants

and the 11medically indigent" are eligible for benefits.

Aid to Families with Dependent Children {AFDC)

Title IV of the Social Security Act authorizes federal

payments to the states for programs to furnish 11 financial

assistance and rehabilitation and other services to needy

dependent children and the parents or relatives with whom

they are living to help maintain and strengthen family life."

Intact families with a non-disabled male head cannot generally

get benefits. The .AFDC legislation does not establish require­

ments relating to citizenship/alienage. However, this condition

is established by regulation.

Food Stamps

The Food Stamp program enables low income families to

purchase coupons at a discount which are redeemable for food

purchases. The legislation for the program is silent on the

'

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issue of citizenship. Requirements have been established by

regulation and are identical to those found in the Supplementary

Security Income legislation. In the Food Stamp Certification

Handbook {August-1974) , state agencies administering the

program are instructed to verify the citizenship or legal

status in "questionable cases." They are further advised that

"to require verification for all cases would be an unreasonable

imposition." While state programs are not required to use

any specific application form, a recommended form, which

includes a question on citizenship, is published in the Hand-.. book. It is also interesting to note that those agencies

which administer the program are directed to report suspected

illegal aliens to the INS.

Federal Old A e Survivors and Disabilit Insurance Benefits ocial Securl.ty)

The Social Security program furnishes retirement income

to persons over 65 years of age and to the disabled. Since

it depends on employee contributions, it is different from ta+V':~--· ·-,_ / ' • -~ {) f? t/''\

base programs. Since 1972, applicants for Social Security '.::·

cards have been required by law to provide proof of citizen­

ship or legal residence. Consequently, there should be no

citizenship issue with recent applicants. No provision of the

legislation or regulations would prohibit illegal aliens from

receiving benefits if they secured a card prior to 1972.

However, benefits depend on past contributions which is based

on work history under Social Security.

'

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Unemployment Insurance

This income transfer program is a set of programs which

provide income for workers who are unemployed. Some occupations,

such as agriculture, are not covered. Largely financed by a

payroll tax, neither the authorizing legislation nor the

regulations make any mention of citizenship. While individual

states could possibly establish such requirements, none has

them at present. A proposed amendment to the authorizing

legislation would establish such a requirement nationally if

it became law (proposed amendment to HR-102210). At present,

however, illegal aliens who work in jobs covered by the program

have the same right to benefits as any other worker. However,

a work history requirement is an integral part of the program.

'

- 199 -

Thus most public assistance programs are required by

regulation or statute to screen for citizenship status. We

have not attempted to ascertain the effectiveness of these

screening procedures. In addition, eligibility and use of wel­

fare programs are largely restricted to women without husbands

but with dependent children, the elderly, the sick who are

poor, and the disabled. Relatively few non-aged men are public

assistance program users except through Unemployment Compen­

sation and Food Stamps. It is difficult to make generalized

statements about the characteristics of illegals or their impact

on the basis of the limited data available. However the data

currently available points to an illegal alien population which

is overwhelmingly young (70% under 30) and employed, character­

istics unlike those of public assistance recipients. Substan­

tial proportions of illegals seem to be sending remittancesto

the country of origin (75%) and paying social security (77%).

The North-Houstoun research shows that only 1.5% used food

stamps, 4% collected unemployment and 4.6% received free health

care.

Neither the allegations of massive incursions into wel­

fare, more precisely income transfer programs by illegals,

nor the limited research which shows the opposite, are neces­

sarily reliable. A great deal of attention should be given

to the development of a profile of the illegal alien popula­

tion characteristics which might serve as the basis of a com­

parison with the profile of those receiving public assistance.

'

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The task forces have examined the subject closely, however,

and find the welfare fraud arg~ments to be somewhat overdrawn

on the basis of the current evidence.

Instead, welfare usage should be regarded as but one

of a range of issues that arise as handmaidens of settlement.

Our model suggests that welfare usage would increase in the

latter stages of settlement. Before any accurate assessments

can be made about current and prospective welfare burdens,

we will need to know more about: (a) the extent of family

relationships involved in our illegal alien numbers; (b) the

duration of stay and mobility of illegal alien groups; and

(c) the efficacy of procedures to assure that only eligible

individuals receive benefits.

'

-201 -

C. SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY IMPACT

Population Growth

In recent years, the U. s. has experienced declining

birth rates and an attendant slowing in overall growth. As a

result the subject of population growth has begun to surface

as an important component of immigration policy considera-

tions. Since we do not know the extent of illegal irnrnigra-

tion today, we cannot define the proportion of population

growth it creates. However, it is instructive to assess the

role legal immigration plays in population growth as an avenue

toward revealing the relationship between population growth

and illegal immigration.

Immigration has, since the 1965 amendments to the

Immigration and Nationality Act, assumed increased importance

as a major contributor to u.s. population growth. It is less

than we experienced during the peak years prior to World War I

but more than that of the post-World War II years. ' The 1972 report of the Commission on Population Growth

and the American Future shows that the relative importance of

immigration as a component of population growth has and will

increase significantly as a decline in birthrates lowers the

natural increase. Between 1960 and 1970 about 16 percent of

total population was due to net immigration. If net

- 202 -

immigration is maintained at the current rate (approximately

400,000 per year) and all families have an average of two

children, immigration between now and 2000, plus descendants,

will number 15 million, nearly one-fourth of the total

projected population increase for that period.

In July 1976, the Subcommittee of Population Education,

Federal Interagency Committee on Education published a report

entitled Population Education and the Federal Role. The

report notes the impact of international migration on u.s.

society. If both fertility and illegal immigration continue

at current levels, all growth in the u.s. will derive from

immigration by the year 2035. Today legal immigrants

account for about 30% of the U.S. population growth and

because of the present low fertility the relative contri­

butions of immigration to population growth is increasing

yearly.

Not only the growth but the distribution of population

is affected. Immigrants prefer metropolitan areas and

concentrate in a few. states. Assuming current tendencies

prevail, two-thirds will settle in six states -- New York,

California, New Jersey, Illinois, Texas and Massachusetts.

Immigration as defined and experienced by the United

States pursuant to the law is a central factor in growth.

To the extent that some workings of the current law

contribute to illegal immigration, and to the extent that

we have been relatively unable to control the sheer size

'

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of such a migration, immigration becomes all the more

important as a determinant in projecting future population

growth. Levels of illegal immigration are not accurately

known, but most recent estimates run to several,million

yearly. Since FY 1974, INS apprehension statistics for

illegal aliens have hovered around three-quarters of a

million annually. At an estimate of 1 million persons per

year, the United States population increase of 1.2 million

persons in 1975 is in effect doubled as a result of illegal

immigration. The following table of u.s. Population Pro-

jections gives us some indication of the effects of legal

and illegal immigration given the historically low, current

fertility rate of 1.8 children per woman and given the

replacement fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman.

Although this information is insufficient to judge the

extent of the impact that immigration, both legal and illegal,

will have on the U.S., it is sufficient to indicate that ·.·.

serious consideration must be given to the question of the·

proper level of immigration in the context of dwindling

resources and desired growth.

@!

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

. 2010 2015 2020 2025

- 204 -

U.S. POPULATION PROJECTIONS

1.8 TFR plus 1.8 TFR plus 2.1 TFR plus 2.1 TFR plus 400,000 immig. 1.2 M immig. 400,000 immig. 1.2 M immig.

222,966,000 223,548,000 227,253,000 227,852,000 232,526,000 236,050,000 241,517,000 145,187,000 240,999,000 247,393,000 255,021,000 261,754,000 247,746,000 256,844,000 267,084,000 276,776,000 253,252,000 265,289,000 278,205,000 291,170,000 258,129,000 273,980,000 288,986,000 306,213,000 262,400,000 282,954,000 299,374,000 321,883,000 265,758,000 291,420,000 308,980,000 337,302,000 267,877,000 298,826,000 317,412,000 351,855,000 268,608,000 305,173,708 324,470,000 365,511,000

'Itle first oolunn of data assunes a continuation of the current fertility rate of 1.8 children per 'WaOall, a legal inmigratian rate of 400,000 inmigratioo, and an illegal inmigration rate of zero. The secord oolunn asSUil'eS a continuation of the current fertility rate, plus a legal inmigration rate of 400,000 and an illegal inmigration rate of 800,000. 'Itle th:iJ::d. oolunn assumes an increase in fertility to repl.a.carent level (2.1 children per 'WaOall) by 1980, a legal :i.nmi.gration rate of 400,000 and an illegal inrn:igration rate of zero. COlunn four asSUil'eS an incl:ease in fertility to repl.ace!rent level by 1980, plus a legal inmigratian rate of 400,0001 and an illegal inrn:igration rate of 8001000. *

*Assumptions

1Population size equals the total u.s. population including armed forces overseas as of July 15, 1975 (by age and sex) ..

2Age and sex structure of all immigrants (both legal and illegal) is the same. (Source: Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Series P-25, No. 601, p. 134.}

3rhe survival ratios are different for males and females but are similar for all races and for natives and immigrants. (Source: Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Series P-25, No. 601, p. 130. )

4rhat average age-specific fertility rates for women age 15-49 are used. Fertility rates apply to all women by single year of age, regardless of race or nationality.

. .

Srhe timing of births (proportionate distribution of births to women) is similar to the actual childbearing pattern of 1973. The timing of childbearing is assumed to be the same for all races and for natives and immigrations. (Source: Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Series P-25, No. 601, p. 125.)

,

- 205-

INS Enforcement

Immigration policy in general and its effects on

certain groups within the society in particular have

always been the source of varying degrees of controversy

and bitterness. Today the most vigorous opposition to

enforcement policy comes from the ethnic groups and

communities that find significant numbers of illegal

aliens in their midst. Their attitudes, rooted in negative

experiences and a history of racial-type conflicts, have

the potential for causing serious conflict at the local

level in the future.

Two distinct types of community organizations are

openly critical of INS enforcement policy. One of these

can be classified as ethnic civil rights organizations,

the other as groups which defend the rights of aliens

in general.

1. Ethnic Community Organizations

These groups are composed of American citizens who are members of an identifiable ethnic group and consider themselves singled out for enforcement emphasis because of their cultural origins. They resent having to prove that they are u.s. citizens when other Americans are not required to do so. Because the majority of the enforcement effort is now directed at Mexican illegal aliens, it is prin­cipally Hispanic groups that have raised charges of civil rights violations. Any enforcement activity which has the appearance of being targeted towards Hispanic or any other ethnic community will continue to inspire strong criticism.

,

- 206 -

2. Aliens' Rights Organizations

According to these organizations, aliens have rights u~der the Constitution which are consistently violated by INS. Such organizations would like to have the rights of aliens recognized and clearly defined by law. Such rights may include: freedom from discrimination in employment, and recogni­tion of 'the right to· receive services, the right to · cou~.sel.. Spme of these groups would like the U.S. to adopt a much mo:re open immigration policy.

The strongest reaction to INS enforcement activities

in the past has been caused by residential or community

enforcement tactics.. Residential enforcement involves

surrounding an entire city block and questioning everyone,

raiding movie theaters and boarding houses and questioning

persons at b~s stops on their way to work. These'techniques

anta<Jonized many persons because they seemed to imply that ' . '

members of these communi ties were second-class ci tize'ns

or were all here illegally. Many complaints have been

in response to such raids; INS has recently abandoned

such techniques.

Community reaction to employer-focused enforcement is

much milder. Such activity bears little apparent relation-

ship to the ethnic group even though it may make up the bulk

of the employees. If the employer is cooperative, the

inspectionmay be limited to the examination of personnel

records. If the visit is in response to a tip, INS may

already have the names of the persons it is seeking.

- 207-

More than 80 percent of the illegal aliens apprehended

by INS are located at the border or a few miles inland.

Much of the border enforcement activity generates relatively

little adverse reaction. If the apprehension is made under

circumstances which clearly indicate that the individual

has just crossed the border at other than a port of entry,

no civil rights violation can be alleged. However, the

questioning of individuals at bus stations close to the

border and at checkpoints along the highway remains a

source of friction between the Border Patrol and the

Mexican-American community in the Southwest. Persons

chosen for questioning are usually dark skinned and

consequently the Hispanic community feels singled out

for enforcement emphasis. The involvement of local law

enforcement agencies in immigration activities gives rise

to additional problems. These agencies are often unaware

of usual policies in the enforcement of immigration law

or hostile to the feelings of ethnic communities~

While the basis for community hostility is apparent,

the dilemma which it highlights is difficult. How does

an agency enforce the law in a free society when the

illegal act is the presence of an individual who cannot

readily be identified? Officials know that there are large

numbers of Hispanic illegal aliens and the society wants

,

- 208 -

the most enforcement and efficiency possible for the

tax dollar. Therefore greater screening and resources

befall Hispanic origin individuals who may believe them­

selves unduly singled out because it makes

strategic sense.

Furthermore the Hispanic community itself is in

disagreement over the dilemma. In a recent Gallup Poll

72% of the Latin American origin group interviewed felt

that a law against hiring illegal aliens should be passed

and 46% felt illegal aliens should be sent back to their

homes. However, another attitude survey, conducted by the

University of San Diego School of Law, reports that while

45% of Hispanic respondents support law enforcement policies

which ~arget employers, only 16% indicated they would be

likely to assist in the effort by reporting the presence

of an illegal alien. Furthermore, 44% agreed with the

proposition that illegals take employment opportunities

from u.s. citizens but only 7% felt they ever failed to

obtain employment or lost a job to an illegal alien.

Enforcement policy in the past has subjected the

Mexican-American and other ethnic communities to inconveniences

which were not borne by Americans as a whole. While INS

policy has already been modified in response to mounting

complaints, every effort should be made to ensure that the

rights of all Americans are respected and that our

immigration policy does not convey or appear to convey

'

- 209 -

second-class citizenship to any ethnic group. Recommenda­

tions containing measures that would help to ameliorate

the problems faced by ethnic communities as a result of

the influx of illegal aliens are contained at the end of

this chapter.

In addition, a great deal of confusion exists regarding

the legal rights of both legal resident aliens and illegal

aliens posing another interesting philosophical question:

What are the legal rights of persons who have no legal

status here? Clarification of these questions would

be of enormous benefit to law enforcement agencies, the

administrators of public assistance programs, American

ethnic communities and legal resident aliens.

Anti-Alien Sentiment

Americans are proud of presenting the nation of

immigrants image pointing to the Statue of Liberty and the

sentiments it represents. In fact, behavior toward newcomers

from strange lands bringing different ways has throughout

our history been anything but benevolent. There continue

to be strong nativist attitudes and institutions in this

country which do not view immigrants as desirable. The '

- 210 -

illegal aspect of recent immigration serves to intensify

these feelings and can cause severe strain and tension.

Along with prejudice, there is a growing antipathy

toward the illegal which springs from the perception that

(a) jobs and services are being expropriated by illegals

at the expense of natives and the public Treasury; and

(b) illegals are in violation of the law and therefore

cannot be tolerated.

These attitudes have been revealed in several large

metropolitan areas primarily in two forms:

1. Proposals for state legislation and local ordinances barring illegals from eligibility for employment or participation in services. Six state legislatures are currently considering legislation which would make it illeqal for employers to employ illegal aliens. 46/ New York is closest to achieving passage and ·sounds a common theme: if the Federal government won't act to protect us from the influx, we will take measures to protect ourselves. Reports of local actions designated to keep the children of illegals out of public schools and ineligible for related services are also beginning to appear.

2. Organization or reactivation of community associa­tions around the issue of illegals and their debilitating effect on neighborhoods and the survival of a certain way of life. These groups exert considerable political pressure on their legislative representatives. More important they create severe polarization within impacted areas which results in generalized suspicion toward "foreigners" regardless of their legal status and a menacing form of scapegoating which ties the problems of housing, urban flight, overburdened services and quality of life to the presence of illegal aliens.

46/ In a February, 1976 decision, DeCanas v. Bica, the Supreme Court held that a California state law which prohibits an employer from knowingly employing an illegal alien is not unconstitutional as a regulation of immigration. a power which rests exclusively with the federal government. It referred to the California state courts the question of whether the statute itself would conflict with the INA or other federal laws or regulations.

'

-- 211-

Both the problems of INS enforcement and anti-

alien sentiment have serious community strife potential.

The settlement thesis outlined earlier in this chapter

indicates that tension appears in the fourth stage, when

families move permanently into certain areas and support

populations appear. There is evidence to support the

contention that in some of our large me~ropolitan areas

this final stage has developed. The friction which

accompanies it will be felt most keenly by the legal

immigrant and ethnic populations whose very real need

for assistance in overcoming culture shock, language

barriers and the like may be met by an atmosphere of dis­

trust and whose economic and political power to mitigate

it is minimal.

Federal-State-Local Relations

The illegal alien issue presents a peculiar dis­

proportionality in the roles of respective levels of

government. Problems are felt at the local and regional

level but local officials have few tools with which to

respond for the laws involved are federal. On the other

hand the Federal government administers immigration policy,

somewhat mindful of its long-run implications for the

nation as a whole, but far removed from the state and

local levels of government where the outcome of its

actions are felt.

'

212-

Intra-governmental communication and cooperation on

this issue is very important and has been virtually non­

existent. This neglect has given rise to unrealistic

demands from local governments for millions of dollars

in reimbursements for services allegedly rendered to

illegals. It has created lawsuits over fiscal responsibility

as well as serious criticism from publicly funded and

private community agencies who handle ever increasing

caseloads. It has caused some local law enforcement

officials to refuse to contact INS officials when illegal

status is uncovered in the course of their work because

their assistance in immigration work costs necessary

community support in other aspects of their. law enforce-

ment responsibilities.

The prospect which faces state and local government

officials is a somber one. The settling in of substantial

numbers of illegals has produced underground communities

of people whose existence depends on evading and avoiding

contact with the law and with government in any form.

Above all we are a nation of laws dependent upon the

institutions and systems which are created and regulated

by law to maintain justice and equity in our communal

existence. The illegal alien, both adds to the burdens upon

society's infrastructures and is fearful of using services

because it increases the likelihood of discovery and appre­

hension. This reluctance is a further dimension of the

'

·-- - 213 -

issue. People who are underground cannot be counted for

planning or fiscal allocation purposes~ they cannot be

protected from abuse on the job or from landlords, dis­

crimination, disease, or crime; they may avoid education

for children; and they are unable or reluctant to assert

political or legal rights. Thus there is the possibility

of a substantial underclass which must avoid the legitimate

institutions and government of the society in order to

survive. This has long-range implications for education,

housing, criminal justice planning, and other important

areas of primary state and local government responsibility.

'

- 214 -

D. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Migrants settle in new areas according to a general

pattern which consists of four stages. In the initial

stages they come singly with the intention of remaining

only temporarily usually for economic reasons. However

for many, aspirations and opportunities change and become

transferred to the host country. This brings on the

latter stages when families are formed or sent for and

support populations appear. The latter stages can

cause tension and conflict over jobs and services with

some groups in the native population. Very likely

different areas of the country and different illegal

population groups are at varying stages of this process

today.

Allegations of heavy illegal alien use of tax­

supported income transfer programs are common. An

examination of these programs shows that the majority

depend on characteristics such as old age, female

head of household, or disabled for eligibility. Present

information shows that illegal aliens are unlikely to be

making heavy use of such programs due to very different

personal characteristics. Our tentative conclusion is

that the welfare use issue is overdrawn. However, final

judgment is dependent on better information delineating

the characteristics of the illegal population. Several

'

- 215 -

other social issues merit consideration. Population

growth, discriminatory effects of enforcement, anti-alien

sentiment and the formation of underground communities

are of concern. These issu.es require a great deal of

further analysis but will become increasingly important

as settlement proceeds into the final stage. The federal

government must work far more closely with state and

local governments at which level impacts are most dramatically

felt particularly in the area of social tension and strife,

a characteristic of permanent settlement.

Recommendations

1. Enforcement activities which minimize community and

ethnic hostility should be stressed. Border enforcement

and employer targeting are far less controversial than

residence-oriented enforcement and are therefore

preferable. Greater attention should be given to

overcoming the negative effects of INS practices on

ethnic, particularly Hispanic,groups. This should

include:

An expanded public information and education

program to keep communities aware of the law, INS

policies and practices and to enlist voluntary

cocperation and support for enforcement from

ethnic communities. This emphasis should build

upon the "neighborhood storefront" concept recently

tested in Chicago. Under such a program, persons

can obtain information about their immigration status

without risking apprehension by INS.

,

- 216 -

Establish a grievance mechanism that would quickly

redress injuries resulting from overzealous

enforcement.

Establish a program to ensure consistency between

INS policies and those of assisting law enforce-

ment agencies.

Clarify questions relating to aliens' rights,

including legislation if necessary.

2. The ~llegal immigration issue must be treated in the

context of population growth and the long-term effects

on birthrates in the U.S. This requires detailed

analysis and improved information and should be intro-

duced as an important variable in the current debate

over dwindling resources and growth.

3. Develop close communication and coordination with state

and local units of government where illegal aliens

live and work. Cooperation should be sought immediately

in such areas as:

enforcement coordination;

U.S.-Mexico border problems;

research and information;

administrative program and legal procedures for expenditures in government programs; and

legislation.

'

- 217 -

CHAPTER VII DILE~~AS fOR THE fUTURE

Immigration matters pre.sent challenging and perplexing

questions. As a nation we have shown decided ambivalence

about immigration policy maintaining an exclusionary law

as our basic statement of policy and at the same time pointing

with pride to our heritage as a nation of immigrants and

to the idealism symbolized in the Statue of Liberty's

welcome to the oppressed of the world. We cling to the

belief that ours should be a land offering opportunity to

those who would help to build it but we have been willing

to discriminate blatantly over time in identifying those

whom we welcome. Immigration is often treated in highly

emotional, politically charged terms yet implementation

of the system necessary to carry out the law has been low

on our national list of funding priorities,vesting extra-

ordinary di~cretion in the enforcement agencies on· matters

which affect individual lives in the most fundamental

and dramatic ways.

To formulate policy on the issue of illegal aliens,

the government must consider the larger question of immigra-

tion policy in general •. Today comprehensive planning on

immigration matters presents several major dilemmas for the

society which must be acknowledged as central to the debate.

'

- 218 -

A. CONTROL

First is the issue of .control inhe.rent in fashioning

a truly effective system of enforcement of immigration laws.

Present document use and personal identification systems

in this country are inadequate from a law enforcement

point of view for effective control. We know, for instance,

that the number of fraudulently documented entrants to the

U.S. is 10 times greater than the number detected. In

addition, INS cannot confirm the departure of 10% of the

temporary arrivals or 600,000 persons annually. Departure

control which, when untended, leads to false claims and

documentation for citizenship and identification of alien

status are essential to effective immigration enforcement.

However, they require computerized recordkeeping, inter­

system exchanges of information and secure documentation

procedures which violate perceptions of the right to

civil freedoms and personal privacy.

A work permit system akin to that utilized in most

other industrialized nations in the free world would ease

matters considerably by making citizenship status a

consideration in the hiring of workers. However a work

permit system limits certain freedoms we enjoy and have

been unwilling to yield. The need for control and the

commitment to certain individual freedoms need not and should

not constitute a tradeoff. Yet finding a suitable balance

'

- 219 -

in this area is far from accomplished. Accepting a certain

degree of illegal immigration may nece.ssarily be a price,

perhaps even a desirable price# to pay.

Immigration enforcement must also be evaluated in the

overall hierarchy of law enforcement demands. Presently

the border is a revolving door. On the individual level,

illegal entry is a victimless crime. We repatriate

undocumented workers on a massive scale only through Mexican

cooperation. The illegals cooperate by agreeing to voluntary

departure and significant numbers promptly re-enter. It is

not unusual for an illegal to undergo multiple apprehensions

and re-entries for there are no serious deterrents. The

policy of u.s. Attorneys is to waive prosecution, except

for the most aggravated offenses, and our penal system has

no capacity to ingest large numbers of illegals. In FY 1974,

there were 741,349 violations which could be entertained

for prosecution; over 92 percent were closed by blanket

or general waiver. Even serious offenses such as smuggling

are profitable. Smugglers were fined an average of $88 per

conviction as against an earning of $200 per alien. Thus

the border situation represents a virtual standoff.

American labor was responsible for the abolishment of

provisions to bring temporary labor into the area. Agricultural

and other interests have continued to fill their labor needs

through a system of illegal immigration. There are actions

'

- 220 -

which can be taken to impede the illegal alien flow across

the borde):;.. Fo;r example, during Operation Intercept in

late 1969, through the flooding o;f enforcement personnel

in the border area and the application of rigid screening

procedures at ports of entry without considering inconveniences

to travelers, we were able to seal off the border quite

effectively. Another approach is the more widespread

use of fencing or other types of barriers. Clearly the

relative importance of immigration enforcement, travel

ease and powerful domestic interests are at issue making

the choices complex.

- 221 -

B. INFORMATION

Underlying much of the current discussion is the

assumption that if we only knew the true dimensions of the

illegal alien issue and its impact, we could target

resources to the level of compliance that we wish to

achieve. This notion may well be wishful thinking.

We may never know the dimensions of this issue.

Research into the characteristics and impact of

a clandestine population presents extraordinary difficulties.

Some researchers believe it is similar to subjects like

pornography or victimization and is therefore unresearchable.

In addition, extant data systems on immigration and

immigration-related matters are very primit.ive. Hard

data on ille~al aliens is virtually non-existent.

The principal repository of data on immigration,

legal or illegal, is the Immigration and Naturalization

Service. Related information is held by the Department

of State due to its visa issuance function and by the

Bureau of the Census. Visa demand and issuance information

is capable of being used to establish patterns and the

decennial census contains valuable information about the

foreign-born population in the United States. INS records

containing social security numbers can be matched with

social security data to obtain earnings histories.

- 222 -

However, State and Census information is use~ul

only to the extent that it can be used in conjunction

with information flowing from the functions uniquely

performed by INS. INS is an agency with law enforcement

as its primary mission. It is distinguished from other

law enforcement agencies by the fact that it has a major

service mission to carry out in addition. Thus data

collection and analysis are not priority functions.

The information which is accumulated relates to operational

needs and is not research-oriented or in any way compatible

with systems maintained by the State Department or Census

Bureau.

Implementation of illegal alien study programs is

forcing INS to systematize and examine its data operations

in an effort to incorporate the study data so it can be

continually updated. However, it is but a first. step.

INS is the primary and often the only source of data on

immigrants, legal and illegal. Information on these groups

due to their size and socio-economic and political importance

is central to adequate planning and evaluation of immigration,

population and employment policy. Until this is recognized

and increased priority through resources and expertise is

directed to it, effective planning on all immigration matters,

of which illegal entry is but one manifestation, will continue

to be largely uninformed. If INS, due to its enforcement

'

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role, is ill-suited also to S'erve as the sole or major

repository o~ statistical information, data systems and

research on the effects of the law and policy it administers,

perhaps the functions of another agency ought to be extended

to include improvement of our knowledge of the causes,

consequences and characteristics of immigration to the

u.s.

The lack of data coupled with a search for ways to

develop reliable information for evaluating the impact of

illegal aliens in the u.s. occupied substantial effort in

several of the task forces. Specific study recommendations

appear at the end of this chapter. However while serious

study must be directed not only at illegal immigration

but at the related issues it raises, the paradox we face

rests with the realization that as time brings more

knowledge about the illegal, time may also entrench illegal

immigration so as to render it an increasingly irreversible

trend.

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C • fOREIGN POLICY

Were. the differences between underdeveloped and

developed nations not so great, the pressures creating

illegal immigration would, presumably, disappear. This

suggests emphasizing economic growth through aid, over~eas

investment and the like. Certainly these are not novel

solutions. Significant resources and attention have

been funneled into the countries involved in illegal

immigration for decades past. Yet in many cases, the gap

is indeed widening. Thus not only is no end in sight,

some conclude the world will in fact lose the development

battle. Such cosmic questions notwithstanding, it is not

the difficulty of economic development per ~ that causes

the problem before us. In fact, high out-migration

countries tend to be those experiencing laudable success

in their economic expansion. Rather it is the strain

to which economic growth is put in the face of extra­

ordinary rates of population growth. Development must run

in order to simply stand in place due to burgeoning numbers

of people. From a foreign policy point of view probably

the most productive position to pursue is a singleminded,

long-term commitment to population planning in developing

nations. For numerous reasons which need not be discussed

in this review, it would require major policy revisions for

the United States, at least publicly, to embrace population

control as the core element of policy with illegal alien

source countries.

,

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Howeve;r:;-., even if such a strategy should emerge,

there are already in the pipeline sufficient numbers

of people to create severe population pressure for this

and the next generat.ion at a minimum. It is only

realistic to assume that the United States will in all

probability absorb some of this excess. Thus the

question may turn to the form in which we adjust to reality

rather than to whether or not we accept it, the latter

providing, in_ simplistic terms, the impetus for the

Domestic Council committee's existence. In other words,

the choice may already no longer be ours.

Without promoting a Doomsday mentality, it is not

beyond the realm of possibility to speculate that private

investment overseas and the priorities of host governments

may well exacerbate migration in favoring capital rather

than labor intensive growth. Furthermore the export of

capital is virtually free of political boundary considerations

whereas barriers to migration make the free movement of

labor, viewed by some nations as a corresponding economic

force, impossible. The circumsuances under which such

themes become joined with migration issues, if indeed they

ever do merge, are impossible to predict. It would seem,

however, that in spite of whatever difficulties migration

may present within the United States, we will not as a nation

see or support a fundamental restructuring of our outlook or

practices on these matters.

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- 226 -

Instead the reality o£ excess populations may be

confronted through. developing distinctions between various

types of migrations, encouraging some due to the

education and skills for instance of the migrants deemed

to be desirable, and discouraging others as a result of

negative domestic impacts. Strong competing interests

and trends will meet as the international aspects of

illegal migration converge with domestic priorities.

Probably the most appropriate context within which to

formulate new goals is the growing debate over our own

levels of and need for growth.

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D. GROWTH

The .i-llegal alien problem is at one level a problem

of a breakdown in law resulting in a substantial number of

people in the U~S. who are not authorized to be here.

Control over who enters and exits from a nation is

universally recognized as a basic feature of national

sovereignty and erosion in the exercise of that sovereignty

is a serious matter. At anot.her level the illegal alien

problem is a question of too many unintended immigrants.

At this level the problem becomes one of determining

the optimal size and nature of immigration to the United

States. Since immigration is a central component in

assessing the rate and nature of growth in this country,

both growth of population and growth of our work force,

it merits full public education and debate.

There are many steps recommended in this report which

we can and must take to alleviate the problem of a breakdown

in our law as currently conceived. But the illegal alien

issue also raises the necessity to rethink immigration at

its most important, provocative level. How many people

should be allowed to enter the United States annually to

take up permanent residence? What proportions should gain

entry as a result of family ties in the U.S., employment

characteristics, or refugee status? Should our neighboring

countries, Canada and Mexico, receive special treatment in

the allocation of numbers for immigrant slots? Should the

'

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law distinguish between Eas:tern and Western Hemisphere

origins? What role should domestic demands for fore.ign

labor play :tn immigration policy? What techniques can

be used to predict the effects of changes in immigration

laws?

These questions must be studied and debated and

answers must be proposed in light of current and expected

domestic and international circumstances. Immigration

policy involves difficult, far-reaching considerations

which require policy attention. Effective solutions to

the illegal alien problem must be developed within the

framework of overall changes in immigration policy.

Although information is no substitute for careful

analysis and reasoned judgment, the process of reviewing

and revising immigration policy, with illegal immigration

as a foremost issue, will be immeasurably aided by improved

information. The Committee recommends that the following

broad areas receive priority research concentration.

,

- 229 -

E. RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The Illegal Alien Population

Due to recent pressures on INS to provide a better

understanding of the illegal alien issue, Congress recently

appropriated $1 million to contract studies yielding

information on the number and characteristics of illegal

aliens in the United States. The Domestic Council

Committee has worked closely with INS drawing upon

expertise from traditionally more research oriented

agencies to design a study which will be sound and which

will meet general policy needs of several government

agencies concerned about the illegal alien issue. Our·

recommendations have been that the INS study strive to

develop a minimum number, or a baseline, of illegals in

the United States rather than a total number and that it

concentrate on developing information which is useful in

determining the impacts and rate of growth of illegal

migration to the United States. The study will not be

complete for another year.

2. Similarities to the Foreign Born

One of the most promising sources of basic socio­

economic information on illegal aliens is the Immigration

and Naturalization Service (INS) Form #213 which is completed

for each apprehended illegal alien. The form asks age,

sex, marital status, social security number, country of

origin, time in the United States, and whether employed,

among other questions.

'

- 230 -

Persons apprehended at the border (sector offices)

have not been successful in penetrating the United States

and presumably do not have a direct impact on the United

States economy. Illegal aliens who are apprehended at

locations other than the border are brought to a district

office and interviewed. It is these persons who presumably

have been residing in, and have had an impact on the United

States. A preliminary examination of #213's filed in the

Washington, D. c. and Chicago offices indicates that the

forms are carefully filled out.

We propose that a random sample be taken from the

approximately 160,000 #213's filed in district offices

in 1975. This would not necessarily represent a random

sample of illegal aliens residing in the United States

since the probability of being apprehended may vary in a

systematic manner with relevant characteristics or

enforcement priorities. It would, however, be a first

step in a systematic analysis of apprehended illegal

alien data. This data would provide insights into the

characteristics and impact of illegal aliens directly and could

then be compared with Census Data on the foreign born to

determine similarities and differences between these

population groups in order to develop further insights

into the impact of illegal aliens.

'

- 231 -

3. The Displacement Factor

One of the central questions surrounding the issue

of the impact of illegal aliens on the labor market •

centers on whether illegal aliens actually "displace"

legal residents from jobs they would otherwise have

taken and the effect on the earnings of legal residents:

(a) What is the effect of the presence of illegal

aliens on wages and working conditions in different

jobs?

(b) To what extent do domestic workers adjust their

labor force participation and occupational choice

to changes in wage rates and working conditions?

To what extent do income support payments serve as

an impediment to labor force and occupational

adjustments for legal residents?

(c) What are the labor force characteristics of the

illegals: wages, skill, and occupational distribution,

labor force participation, unemployment, etc.?

(d) What is the effect of illegal aliens on GNP, on

the distribution of this income and on the efficiency

of resource allocation? ' {e) What is the net social cost (or net social benefit)

from illegals? How can the net cost be minimized?

4. Use of Public Services

The question of whether or not illegal aliens create

burden for public service programs is of considerable

- 232 -

importance in assessing the significance of their presence

to this country. There is, however, very little data to

support any conclusions on this topic. Most studies tend

to indicate that the use of public services by illegal

aliens is infrequent. Unfortunately, the quality of

this data is poor. A meaningful assessment of this

question cannot be made until additional research has

been done. Such studies may need to address the different

groups within the illegal alien population, different

areas of the country and the different services.

One HEW study which will shortly be underway

deals with the medical costs incurr,ed by illegal

immigrants. This project will attempt to

determine the magnitude of the problem in seven

different cities where large numbers of illegal

aliens are apprehended by the INS. Researchers

will determine what criteria hospitals use in

identifying illegal aliens and how accurate these

identifications are. The study will assign a

rough dollar figure to the services rendered and

will be able to conclude whether or not a substantial

problem exists for the hospitals included in the

study.

In an effort to encourage Federal/state interaction,

case studies using state agencies, immigration aid

groups and the like should be undertaken at the local

'

- 233 -

level. One promising area of inquiry would be a

study of the impact on the educational system of a

large city such as Los Angeles or New York. The County

of San Diego has already undertaken a systematic

search of its records and agencies in an effort to

determine the uses of its services by illegal aliens.

The problem with this approach rests with creating non­

comparable data and using incompatible methodologies.

5. Migration Patterns

The rise of Third World nations, their exploding populations

and the implications for interregional economic development are

becoming more apparent. In our case, there is the added dimen­

sion of border region research and policies. Research should

concentrate on the following areas:

Comparative study of migration experience, including

intra-European and intra-Caribbean migration, including

guest workers, and the mechanisms which have been

developed in those areas.

Demographic trends and policies and their impact on

migration to the border zones and from one country to

another.

The impact that movement of people has on international

transfer of science and technology.

Evaluation of alternatives for economic assistance for

the development of the border regions in Mexico. Specific

attention would be given to those elements essential for

a coordinated and integrated economic approach.

'

- 234 -

6. Community Attitudes

For the future, more should be done in the way of

assessing the perceptions of certain communities towards

illegal aliens, their impacts and the relative effects of

various law enforcement techniques which are used to

identify such persons.

7. Immigrant Studies

The ethnic makeup of our legal immigration since

1965 is considerably different from that of the preceding

era. Tbe ethnicity and the demographic characteristics

of immigrants are increasing in importance as social

policy issues because of government programs. More research

must be devoted to longitudinal analysis of legal immigrants.

At this time study should concentrate upon the optimal

characteristics of immigration including analysis of

admission criteria and systems. U.S. experiences with

guest worker type programs and comparative analysis with

labor importing countries should be assessed in order to

eval.uate the trade in goods or trade in labor supplies

questions immigration policy poses. '

- 235 -

CHAPTER VIII CONCLUSIONS AND MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS

In drawing conclusions and formulating recommendations,

it is important to reemphasize the preliminary nature of this

report. The illegal immigration phenomenon is complex and an

interagency examination of this issue is a very recent develop-

ment. The charge to the Domestic Council Committee was to

develop a comprehensive approach to the issue. In furtherance

of that goal, this report attempts to provide a clear statement

of the issue in its broad terms, assess current information,

and chart the process and tasks through which the executive

branch of government should proceed as a result.

One clear theme of this report is that a dramatic lack of

reliable information makes thorough analysis of illegal

immigration impossible at this time. Thus the conclusions which

the Committee has drawn are tentative and subject to revision.

Nevertheless the Committee believes that certain judgments can

and should be made in an effort to channel further inquiry in

a productive fashion.

A. CONCLUSIONS I

1. Illegal immigration is rooted in powerful

social and economic forces endemic to both

host and sending countries.

Historically Mexico has been and remains a

major source of illegal entrants to the United States.

- 236 -

However illegal immigration today involves many

nations and new migration streams. Sending countries

are typically rapidly developing nations where rising

expectations combined with population pressure have

far surpassed the ability of economic growth, albeit

substantial, to narrow significantly the income gap

with the u.s. Thus pressure to emigrate is intense,

and large numbers of people have already emigrated to

the United States legally from source countries in

accordance with the 1965 Amendments to the Immigration

and Nationality Act (INA). These amendments markedly·

changed legal immigration to permit large numbers of

Latin and Asian origin groups and to diminish numbers

of Europeans who immigrate. Illegal immigration must

be studied in the context of migration incentives and

the law governing legal entry. United States employers

seek foreign workers for many kinds of work. Thus

economic opportunity and kinship and culture ties in

the u.s. combine with migration pressures to create

potent push-pull forces which the INA was not designed

to check.

2. Illegal immigration is significant and growing.

Current estimates of the stock and flow of illegal

aliens are educated guesses at best. Establishing these

numbers in a credible fashion is important. Although

I

- 237 -

sound numbers are not available, the relevant point for

current policy purposes is that the illegal immigration

phenomenon is significant and growing. Our immigration

policy, as promulgated under the INA, is ineffective.

Our official commitment is to an exclusionary policy

founded in history and domestic political considerations

which allows approximately 400,000 foreign-born to take

up permanent legal residence in this country per annum.

The de facto situation is quite the opposite in that a

combination of legal loopholes and incentiv~s, enforce­

ment inadequacies, and international push-pull forces

have considerably eased limitations on immigration so that

in practice we have a very open immigration system.

Analysis of this combination of factors leads inevitably

to the conclusion that a trend has been established which

is likely to grow if present circumstances persist.

3. The major impact of illegal aliens at this time

seems to be in the labor market. This impact is

likely to extend over time to other areas as the

process of settlement proceeds.

Illegal aliens compete effectively with native

workers, particularly with the minimally skilled and

under-employed, although the degree to which they

actually displace native workers is unclear. These

immigrants raise the income of owners of capital and

I

- 238 -

land and of highly skilled workers and lower prices

to consumers of goods and services they help produce.

Thus certain legal residents gain and others, parti­

cularly those with few skills, lose from the presence

of illegal aliens. However the unskilled labor which

the illegal generally contributes in the early stages

of migration later tends to be offset by the costs

incurred in the latter stages of migration when new

communities of families must be absorbed. This

result occurs during settlement, the end-product of

migration. Initially the migrant generally intends

to emigrate only temporarily. However his aspirations,

objectives and opportunities become attached to the

host country so that he eventually remains*establish­

ing or sending for family rather than returning.

4. The community-related implications of large

numbers of illegal aliens are significant and

merit government attention.

The inefxectiveness of the INA has helped to

create communities concentrated in our largest urban

centers whose existence depends on avoidance of law

and authority. Breeding these conditions signals

long-run negative social implications for ethnic

Americans and for the ability of state and local

units of government to function effectively. Aside

from the question of economic impact, the ramifica­

tions of harboring large numbers of people in illegal

,

-- 239 -

status are undesirable and contribute to a breakdown

in the institutions and systems upon which we depend

for fair government.

5. Effective enforcement of the Immigration and

Nationality Act must stress prevention above all

other considerations.

It is vastly more desirable from both a policy

and a resources standpoint to prevent entry of the

illegal or screen out potential illegals before

arrival than to locate and apprehend the illegal

once he is in the u.s. This strategy is currently

accepted but it will require more adequate resources

for both the State Department and the Immigration and

Naturalization Service, improved management and

tactics, legislation, and greater cooperation among

federal agencies with related enforcement responsi­

bilities to be effective.

6. Effective enforcement is not enough. The illegal

alien issue is ultimately an issue of immigration

policy and will not be satisfactorily met until

a thorough rethinking of our immigration policy

is undertaken.

Who may enter this country for what periods of

time under which circumstances are the questions we

must, as a nation, answer. These questions in turn

raise questions about employment, population, and

,

- 240 -

other broad policy areas. The law must be revised

to incorporate current and future realities not

envisaged in the 1965 deliberations in which our

present system was formulated. The executive branch

must provide leadership and take an active role in

the development of a better immigration policy.

Serious study, widespread discussion, public educa-

tion, interagency coordination, adequate resource

allocation, policy analysis, planning, and coopera-

tion with state and local levels of government are

all needed.

B. MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS

The recommendations set forth below do not pre-

elude the more specific recommendations contained at

the end of individual chapters. Specific chapter

recommendations will presumably be implemented as

part of the overall follow-up to this

report by the Committee in accordance with the major

recommendations below. The Comraittee does not

believe any single element among its recommendations

can solve the illegal alien problem. It does believe

that the cumulative effect of implementing the

recommendations which follow will be to slow the

flow of illegal aliens significantly and to take

major strides toward the development of a more

effective immigration policy.

'

- 241 -

1. The issue of illegal immigration merits priority

attention and requires Cabinet leadership. Actions

to be taken cross many bureaucratic and agency lines

and will require continued coordination and direction

at the highest level.

2. The executive branch should aggressively pursue

the enactment of legislation which relates directly

to the illegal alien question and which the executive

branch has supported in the past. Such legislative

actions include:

(a) penalties for employers who knowingly hire

aliens not authorized to work;

(b) application of the preference system and

foreign state limitations to Western Hemis-

phere immigration in a manner similar to

that regulating Eastern Hemisphere immigra-47/

tion;

(c) thorough revision of the labor certification

provisions of the current law so that immi-

grants admitted for employment fall within

prescribed quotas and individual certifications

are eliminated;

47/ P.L. 94-571, signed on October 20, 1976, contains these provisions. This report was written and approved prior to that action.

'

- 242 -

{d) advancement of the eligibility date for

establishing a record of admission for lawful

permanent residence from June 30, 1948 to

July 1, 1968; and

(e) increased penalties for persons who smuggle

or facilitate illegal immigration.

3. The Committee should evaluate the current H-2 or

temporary worker program authorized by the INA to

determine if it is adequate, both from an administra­

tive and statutory standpoint, to meet the legitimate

needs of employers for temporary foreign workers. It

should further assess the United States experience

with the bracero program and the experiences of other

nations with guest worker programs. An expanded,

government to government foreign worker program should

not be sought at this time. However, means of

improving the government's responsiveness to employers

under current law should be developed if necessary.

4. The agencies administering the INA -- INS and the

Department of State -- should receive high priority

in the allocation of resources directed at prevention

of and screening for illegal entries, management and

operational upgrading, and inter-Departmental coor­

dination.

5. The Committee is concerned about the large number

of illegal aliens already in the United States. The

'

- 243 -

Committee believes that massive deportation is both

inhumane and impractical. It is expected that the

enactment of the legislation described in recommen­

dation #2 would permit some illegal aliens to adjust

their status and cause many others to decide to leave

the United States. In addition, the Committee should

evaluate and develop other policy approaches toward

those illegal aliens currently in the country.

6. The Department of State should undertake serious,

high-priority exchanges, in addition to those underway

with Mexico, with governments of the major illegal alien

sending countries on the illegal migration issue, visa

controls, and u.s. domestic pressures and activity

surrounding the illegal alien. u.s. foreign aid and other

efforts toward less developed nations should be encouraged 1

but with greater emphasis on factors that would reduce the

pressures that encourage 'migration, e.g., population plan­

ning, rural economic development and labor intensive

programs.

7. The Committee and the cognizant federal agencies should

initiate and support a broad based research program to

determine the nature and scope of various immigration

related problems. This must include research within

government agencies as well as through contracting with

outside individuals and institutions, involvement of

other levels of government and consultation with a wide

variety of experts in many disciplines. Relevant economic,

'

- 244 -

sociological, demographic and labor market data are

needed to adequately examine existing policies and

update them.

8. The Committee should initiate a thorough re­

examination of the basic precepts and operations of

current immigration policy with the goal of developing

proposals and systems which are based on information

developed through careful study and research and

widespread discus-sion among affected interest groups

and the general public.

'

- 245 -

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Greene, Sheldon L. "Immigration Law and Rural Poverty -- The Problems of the Illegal Immigrant." Duke Law R~view, no. 3 {1969), pp. 475-494.

Keely, Charles B. "Effect of the Immigration Act of 1965 on Selected Population Characteristics of Immigrants to the U.S." Demography 8 (May 1971).

Keely, Charles B. "The Estimation of the Immigration Component of Population Growth." International Migration Review 8 (Fall 197 4) ' pp. 431-435.

Keely, Charles B. "Immigration Composition and Population Policy." Science 185 (16 August 1974), pp. 587-593.

Lippman, Leopold. "Guest Workers, Handicapped Workers: Are They the Seed Bed of Conflict" The Social and Rehabilita­tion Record, 1 October 1974, pp. 20-24.

Martinez, Vilma S., "Illegal Immigration and the Labor Force" in American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 19, no. 3, Jan./Feb. 1976, pp. 335-350.

Ortega, Joe c. "Plight of the Mexican Wetback. 11 American Bar Association Journal 58 (March 1972), pp. 251-254.

Partes, Alejandro. "Return of the Wetback." Society, April/May 1974, pp. 40-46.

'

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Ritterband, Paul. "Law, Policy, and Behavior: Educational Exchange Policy and Student Migration." American Journal of Sociology 76 (July 1970), pp.71-82.

Rizzo, John J. "Alien Welfare Benefits: An Examination of Eligibility Requirements Based on Citizenship." Syracuse Law Review 22 (1971), pp. 1047-1063.

Robinson, Dianne. "State Regulation of the Employment of Illegal Aliens: A Constitutional Approach." Southern California Law Review 46 {March 1973~ pp. 565-584.

Rodino, Jr., Hon. Peter W. "The Impact of Immigration on the American Labor Market." Rutgers Law Review 27 (Winter 1974), pp. 245-274.

Velie, Lester, "Poverty at the Border: Mexican Labor Brought in by Greedy u.s. Employers," Readers Digest, 97, August, 1970, pp. 92-97.

Westoff, Leslie A. "Should We Pull Up the Gangplank?" The New York Times Magazine, 16 September 1973, p. 15.

Williams, Dean L. Some Political and Economic -Aspects of Mexican Immigration into the u.s. Since 1941. With Particular Reference to This Immigration into California. San Francisco: R & E Research Associates, 1973.

Government Publications and Reports (Published and Unpublished) :

Congressional Documents:

u.s. Congress. House. Arnendin the Immigration and Nationalit Act, and for Other Purposes. To accompany H.R. 982). House Report No. 93-108. 93d Cong., 1st sess., April 5, 1973.

u.s. Congress. House. Immigration and Nationality Act Amend­ments of 1973. (To accompany H.R. 981) House Report No. 93-461. 93d Cong., 1st sess., September 11, 1973.

u.s. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Immigration and Naturalization Service Regional Office Operations. Part 1. Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, 93d Cong., 1st sess., March 27; April 3 and 10, 1973.

U.S. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Immigration and Naturalization Service Regional Office Operations. Part 2. Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, 93d Cong., 1st sess., May 18, June 18 and 28, 1973.

,

- 250 -

u.s. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Immigration and Naturalization Service Regional Office Opera­tions. Part 3. Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, 93d Cong., 1st sess., September 17 and 18, 1973.

u.s. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Immigration and Naturalization Service Regional Office Opera­tions. Part 4. Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, 93d Cong., 1st sess., November 13 and 14, 1973.

u.s. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Immigration and Naturalization Service Regional Office Opera­tions. Part 5. Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, 93d Cong., 2d sess., August 13; September 12, 17, 18; and October 9, 1974.

u.s. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Interim Report on Immigration and Naturalization Service Regional Office Operations. House Report No. 93-1623. 93d Cong., 2d sess., December 18, 1974.

u.s. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Law Enforcement on the Southwest Border. Review of Reorgani­zation Plan No. 2 of 1973 and Related Developments. Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, 93d Cong., 2d sess., July 10, 11, 16; and August 14, 1974.

u.s. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Law Enforcement on the Southweqt Border (Problems of Coordina­tion between Immigration and Naturalization Service and Customs Service). House Report No. 93-1630. 93d Cong., 2d sess., December 18, 1974.

u.s. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings before Subcommittee No. 1 on H.R. 9112, H.R. 15092 and H.R. 17370 to Amend the Immigration and Nationality Act, and for Other Purposes, 9lst Cong., 2d sess, July 16, 22, and 29, 1970, August 5 and 6, 1970.

u.s. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Illegal Aliens. Part 1. Hearings before Subcommittee No. 1, 92d Cong., 1st sess., May 5; June 3, 19 and 21, 1971.

U.S. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Illegal Aliens. Part 2. Hearings before Subcommittee No. 1, 92d Cong., 1st sess·., June 24, 25; July 9 and 10, 1971.

- - 251 -

u.s. Cong. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Illegal Aliens. Part 3. Hearings before Subcommittee No. 1,92d Cong., 1st sess., October 22 and 23, 1971; January 21, 1972.

u.s. Cong. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Illegal Aliens. Part 4. Hearings before Subcon~ittee No. 1, 92d Cong., 2d sess., March 10 and 11, 1972.

u.s. Cong. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Illegal Aliens. Part 5. Hearings before Subcommittee No. 1, 92d Cong., 2d sess., March 22, 23, and 24, 1972.

u.s. Cong. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Illegal Aliens: A Review of Hearings Conducted During the 92d Congress (Serial No. 13, Pts. 1-5) by Subcommittee No. 1, 93d Cong., 1st sess. February 1973.

u.s. Cong. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Illegal Aliens. (To accompany H.R. 982). Hearings before Subcommittee No. 1, 93d Cong., 1st sess., March 7 and 8, 1973.

u.s. Cong. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Western Hemi­sphere Immigration. Hearings before Subcommittee No. 1 on H.R. 981, 93d Cong., 1st sess., March 28: April 12; June 6, 7, 13 and 14, 1973.

u.s. Cong. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Review of the Administration of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Hearings before the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and International Law, 93d Cong., 1st sess., July 26; September 13, 18, and 20, 1973 ..

u.s. Cong. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Report of the Special Subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary to Review Immigration, Refugee, and Nationality Problems, 93d Cong., 1st sess., December 1973.

U.S. Cong. Senate. Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Powerlessness, Part 4-B, 5-B and 7-B. Hearings before the Subcommittee on Migratory Labor, 9lst Cong., 1st and 2nd sess., 1969-1970.

u.s. Cong. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Immigration 1976. (To accompany S-3074). Hearings before the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and International Law, 94th Cong., 2nd sess., 1976.

,

- 252 -

u.s. Cong. General Accounting Office. A Single Agency Needed to Manage Port-of-Entry Inspections --Particularly at u.s. Ports: Report to the Congress by the Comptroller General of the United States. B-114898, Washington, D. C., May 30, 1973.

u.s. Cong. General Accounting Office. Aliens Are Illegally Entering the U.S. Mainland Through Puerto Rico and the u.s. Virgin Islands: Report to the Congress by the Comptroller General of the United States. GGD-76-5, Washington, D.C., September 8, 1975.

u.s. Cong. General Accounting Office. Better Controls Needed to Prevent Foreign Students from Violating the Conditions of Their Entry and Stay While in the United States: Report to the Congress b~ the Comptroller General of the United States. GGD-75-9, Wash1ngton, D.C., February 4, 1975.

u.s. Cong. General Accounting Office. Immigration -- Need to Assess u.s. Policy: Report to the Congress by the Comptroller General of the United States. GGD-76-101, Washington, D. c., October, 1976.

u.s. Cong. General Accounting Office. More Needs to Be Done to Reduce the Number and Adverse Impact of Illegal Aliens in the United States: Report to the Congress by the Comptroller General of the United States. B-125051, Washington, D. c., July 31, 1973.

u.s. Cong. General Accounting Office. Need to Reduce Public Expenditures For Newly Arrived Immigrants and Correct Inequ1ty in Current Immigration Law: Report to the Congress by the Comptroller General of the United States. GGD-75-107, Washington, D. C., July 15, 1975.

u.s. Cong. General Accounting Office. Needs for Improvement in Management Activities of the Immigration and Naturalization Service: Report to the Congress by the Comptroller General of the United States. B-125051, Washington, D. C., August 14, 1973.

u.s. Cong. General Accounting Office. Smugglers, Illicit Documents, and ~chemes Are Undermining U.S. Controls Over Immigration: Report to the Congress by the Comptroller General of the united States. GGD-76-83, Washington, D. c.,August 30, 1976.

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- 253 -

Executive Department Documents:

u.s. Commission on Civil Rights. Counting The Forgotten: The 1970 Census Count of Persons of Spanish Speaking Background in the United States. Washington, D. c., April 1974.

u.s. Commission on Population Growth and the American Future. Population and the American Future. Final Report. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1972.

u.s. Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. Census Po ulation, 1970: General Social and Economic Characteristics. Final Report PC(l -Cl, Un1ted States Summary, Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office.

u.s. Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. Selected Characteristics of Persons and Families of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Other Spanish Origin, Current Population Reports. Series P-20, No. 238. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1972.

u.s. Department of Commerce. Economic Development Administration. "Industrial and Employment Potential of the United States-Mexico Border," by Robert R. Nathan Associates, Inc., December 1968.

u.s. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Social Security Administration. "Interactions Between Illegal Alien Respondents and the Social Security Tax Collection System: Some Preliminary Findings," by David S. North, July 1976.

U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Regional Office VI. "Regional Memorandum," by Howard D. McMahan, Regional Director. Dallas, Texas, November 1973.

u.s. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Rehabilita­tion Service, Office of Quality Control Management. Quality Control in AFDC, National Findings, January-June, 1974. Washington, D. C. 1975.

U.S. Department of Justice. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Annual Report of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Various issues.

U.S. Department of Justice. Immigration and Naturalization Service. "Illegal Aliens Policy Analysis," by I.C.F., Inc. October, 1975.

'

- 254 -

U.S. Department of Justice. Immigration and Naturalization Service. "The Gallup Study of Attitudes Towards Illegal Aliens" by The Gallup Organization, Inc., June, 1976.

u.s. Department of Justice. Immigration and Naturalization Service. "Fraudulent Entrants Study: A Study of Malafide Applicants for Admission at Selected Airports and Southwest Land Border Ports" (Illegal Alien Study - Part I), September, 1976.

u.s. Department of Labor. Manpower Administration. Alien Workers: A Study of the Labor Certification Program, by David s. North. Available from the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VirgJnia 22151, August 1971.

U.S. Department of Labor. Manpower Administration. "Biblio­graphic Literature on Migrant Seasonal Workers: An Annotated Reference Guide." Prepared by LMC Inc., October 1974.

u.s. Department of Labor. Manpower Administration. Farming and Farm Labor, by Paul Sultan and Darryl D. Enos. Available from National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22151, 1974.

U.S. Department of Labor. Manpower Administration. Immigrants and The American Labor Market, by David s. North and William G. Weissert. Available from National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22151, April 1973.

u.s. Department of Labor. Manpower Administration. "The Legal and Illegal California Farmworker: Some Implications for Unemployment Insurance," by Paul E. Sultan and John M. Virgo, January, 1974.

u.s. Department of Labor. Manpower Administration. Illegal Aliens: Their Characteristics and Roles in the u.s. Labor Market, by David s. North and Marion F. Houstoun, 1976.

U.S. Department of Labor. California Labor Panel to Secretary of Labor Wirtz, Final Report, Los Angeles, California, December, 1965.

u.s. Department of State. Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs. Report of the Visa Office. Various issues.

u.s. Select Commission on Western Hemisphere Immigration. Final Report. Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1968.

'

- 255 -

u.s. Special Study Group on Illegal Immigrants from Mexico. "A Program for Effective and Humane Action on Illegal Mexican Immigrants." Washington, D.C., January 15, 1973. ("The Cramton Report")

Foreign Document:

Mexico, Interdepartmental Commission for the Study of the Problem of the Clandestine Emigration of Mexican Workers. to the United States of America. "Report on Activities and Recommendations." Tlatelolco, December 14, 1972. {Companion to "The Cramton. Report.~~) •

State and Local Government Documents:

California, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Migration, 1976.

California State Social Welfare Board. "Position Statement: Aliens in California." California: Health and Welfare Agency, Department of Soc~al Welfare, January 1973.

California, San Diego County Human Resources Agency. "A· Study of the Impact of Illegal Aliens on the County of San Diego in Specific Socioeconomic Areas," Nov., 1975.

City of El Paso, Mexico, El Paso Special Commission on Crime, Final Report.

Illinois Legislative Investigating Commission. Re~ort to the General Assembly on the Problem of Illegal Aliens 1n Illinois. Chicago, Illinois, October 1971.

Los Angeles Police Department. "Study of Impact of Illegal Aliens on Crime in L.A.: Ramparts Division Case Study." Los Angeles, Ca., September 1974.

Texas Department of Community Affairs, "Illegal Juvenile Alien Crime Along the Mexico-United States Borderland," State Youth Secretariat Division, June 1975.

Texas Good Neighbor Commission of Texas. Texas Migrant Labor 1973 Annual Report. P.O. Box 12007, Austin, Texas 78711.

Washington. Inter-Agency Task Force for Agricultural Workers. "Investigative Study of the Impact of Illegal Aliens on Farmworkers in the State of Washington." Preliminary Report, December 1974.

- 256 -

Newspaper Articles:

Aarons, Leroy F. "Illegal Entrants Flock to u.s.: A New Poverty Class (Part I)." The Washington Post, 2 February 1975.

Aarons, Leroy F. "Patrol Can't Keep Aliens Out (Part II):" The Washington Post, 3 February 1975.

Buder, Leonard. "65,000 Illegal Aliens Reported in City Schools." The New York Times, 12 June 1973.

"Carlos Didn't Last Long in the Promised Land." Washington Star-News, 17 November 1974.

"Chavez Shifts View of 'Illegals'." The Washington Post, 3 February 1975.

Chriss, Nicholas L. "Aliens Are Using Marriage to Gain Admission to U.S." The Washington Post, 14 July 1974.

Cruz, Humberto. "About 70,000 Aliens Are Working Illegally in Dade County." Miami News, 8 July 1974.

Del Olmo, Frank. "U.S. Refuses to Repay County's Alien Health Bill." Los Angeles Times, 1974.

Farber,M.A. "Million Illegal Aliens in Metropolitan Area (Part I)." The New York Times, 29 December 1974.

Farber,M.A. "Unlawful Aliens Use Costly City Services (Part II)." The New York Times, 30 December 1974.

Farber,M.A. "Battle Expected on Tighter Laws to Curb Illegal Aliens, (Part III)." The New York Times, 31 December 1974.

Bolles, Everett R. "Ruling on Mexican Aliens Stirs Chicanos' Job Fears." The New York Times, 2 December 1974.

Meyer, Lawrence. "Alien Plan Links Jobs to Citizenship." The Washington Post, 5 February 1975.

Meyer, Lawrence. "Aliens Hard to Count." The Washington Post, 2 February 1975.

"On Illegal Aliens." El Paso Times, 19 January 1975.

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- 257 -

Satchell, Michael. "Human Tide Cuts Deeply in America: Illegal Aliens and the Economy (Part I)." Washington Star-News, 16 November 1974.

Satchell, Michael. "Life in Paradise Spent on the Run (Part II)." Washington Star-News, 17 November 1974.

Satchell, Michael. "The Biggest Hole in the Dike (Part III)." Washington Star-News, 18 November 1974.

Satchell, Michael. "Solution 'Simple': Cut Off Jobs (Part IV)." Washington Star-News, 19 November 1974.

Walsh, Denny. "House Panel Estimates u.s. and States Lose $115 Million a Year in Taxes that Illegal Aliens Escape." The New York Times, 13 June 1974.

Zeman, Ray. "Refund for Illegal Aliens Medical Care Sought." Los Angeles Times, 26 June 1.974.

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APPENDIX A* INFORMATIOO LISTING OF ILLEGAL ALIEN IMPACTS

Prepared and submitted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service

*See page 125 of the report.

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i

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:

Balance of Payments

Balance of Payr.1ents

Balance of Payments

Balance of Payments

Balance bf Payments -·-·.

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..

SOURCE

Seattle Times, Seattle Hasnington, December 15, 1974.

Seattle Times, Seattle Hashington, December 15, 1974.

Seattle Times, Seattle Hashington, December 15, 1974.

u.s. Congress. Illegal Aliens, Part 4 Hearings before Subcor.1mittee iio. 1, 92nd Congress, 2nd Session, l·larch 10 and 11, 1972 •.

tlorth, DavidS., "Interactions rletv1een Illegal Alien Respondents and the Social Security Tax Collection System: Sor.1e Preliminary Findings," a paper prepared for the Social Security Ad­ministration, July 1976.

:NOTE: 'L'l:)~·;>,fullowing information is derived from variety of sources. Most news­paper accounts rely upon information provided by federal, state, and local

·--

government agencies. - 1 -

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FINDING

About $7 million is sent to llexico each year by illegal aliens in .Iashi,lgton a ceo rdi ng to a study conducted by the Governor's Interagency Task Force on Agricultural \lorkers.

Illegal aliens send their earnings home

r

to f.lexico. Their earnings are equivalent to u.s. workers - i.e., they may earn as much as $5,000 a season. Little gets into the local econor.1y, If the e5timate of 5,000 illegals in t(le State is accurate, and the average may have earned $1,500 1n the season, then ~7,5UO,COO of the State's ~ economy may have been affected.

At an average annual wage of about $5,000, illegal aliens receive about $75 mil lion from the Illinois en1ployment market. A good portion of their incor.1e is sent to i their families in Mexico and is penna­nently drained from the Illinois economy,.

At these fie~/ York hearings mention is made • of a series of articles on illegals by · the llew York Daily rlevts, which estimated : that illegals send Sl.~ billion out of i the country annuallY.

Of 793 illegal aliens who had worked in I the U.S. at 1 east tv1o weeks and had been I apprehended by IHS, the average monthly

1 rer.littance sent to their homeland was $1051

and helped support an average of 4.6 i persons. I

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IMPACT AREA

Country of Orig1n

t;ountry of Origin

Country of Origin

.•

SOURCE

Cornelius, Wayne A., "~1cxican ~1igration to the United States: lhe View From Rura 1 Sending Communities," Presented at the conference on t-1exico and the Un1ted States: The Next Ten Years, School of International Service, the American Univers1ty, Wash1ngton, D.C., March 18-19, 1976.

U.S. Congress. House. Illegal Aliens, Part 2, Hearings before ::>ubcommittee No 1, 2nd Congress, 1st Session, June 24, 25; July 9 and 10, 1971.

Partes Alejandro "Return of the Wet­back" Society. Apri 1/May 1974, pp._ 40-4b.

- 2-

FINDING

Funds and expertise gained in U.S. nave on occasion benefitted Mexican communi­tics; and, in toto, while not improving s1gni ficantly Mexican conditions, probably Kept them from becoming con­siaerably worse.

At the July 9-10 Hearings at El Paso the American Consul General in Juarez testified to the effect tnat illegal aliens have on the Mexican economy.

f·1exico benefits from the flow of illegals to the U.S. in t~>to ways: It alleviates tne tensions and costs of the i ncorre maldistribution oy provid1ng the poor with an alternat1ve and secondly, re­mittances from ftexican immigrants are being sent into the COL!ntry.

---·----- ---- -----:-----·-----·-----------··-------------------IMPACT AREA

Crime

Crime

Crime

Crime

Crime

.·

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SOURCE

El Paso Special Commission on Crime Final Report, City of El Paso, Texas, page 39.

El Paso Special Commission on Crime Final R~port, City of El Paso, Texas, page 36.

Illinois Study on Illegal Aliens, Legislative Investigating Commission, State of Illinois, 1971. ·

fl. A. Farber, 11 Unlav>tful Aliens Use Costly City Services.u New York Times, December 30, 1974.

I&NS Western Region, Regional Commissioner's Annual Report, FY 1976, 1·1emorandum from Philip H. Smith dated September 3, 1976.

. - 3-

FINDING

There is no v1ay of knowing how many of the average of 70 cars a week stolen in El Paso cross the border, but it is certainly a substantial percentage.

In a single calendar quarter in 1974, 6,762 illegal aliens were arrested by the downtown foot patrol for offenses other than illegal entry.

Almost all are young, single male adults or married and.unaccompanied by their wives and families. This has bred prostitution.

Half of 210 a·rrested in 1973 in connection .. with an international cocaine-smuggling operation were illegals living and working in NYC Area; estimated 6-10% of city jails' • 7,300 inmates are illegal. No evidence ·· that fllegals commit more crime, pro- ·· portionally, tnan other people.

Of 571 fbreign-bom felony-charged prisoners in Los Angeles County jails. INS investigators interviewed 20;' and found that 35% of those were deportab1e.

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IMPACT AREA

Criminal Justice

Crimina 1 Justice

Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice

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SOURCE

Joint Crime Suppres~ion Task Force -Rampart Area Report. Los Angeles County Po 1 icy Oepa r'bnen t.

1·1igration, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, State of California, 1976, page 53.

r.tigration, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, State of Callfornia, 1976, page 61.

Migration, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, State of California, 1976, page 53.

FINDING

During a special exercise over a 3-day period in 1974, 36.3:t, of felony arrestees and 17.3~ of misdemeanors arrested in the Rampart area of Los Angeles were illegal aliens, a figure estimated to be dis­proportional to the assumed population by 223 to 391:;.

In San Diego County 234 illegal alien juveniles v1ere served between June 6, 1974 and July 21, 1975 at a cost of $370 per person. Total cost $87,048.

tstimated cost to probation department in South Central, East Los Angeles, and West San Fernando Valley offices for 1974 was $269,893.80 for 1902 illegal aliens.

Illegals constitute 4.1% of total case 1 oad.

According to Raul Longoria of Edinburgh, ~ Texas, more than 10,000 incidents were reported in 1974 in which juvenile illegal aliens were apprehended and charged in violation of state laws. !

Illegal Juvenile Alien Crime Along The Charges on apprehended illegal juvenile Hexican-United States Borderland. aliens. Pr'epared by the State Youth Secretariat Division of the Texas Department of 40.3~ -Theft - Petty - Grand Communi~ Affairs, June 19t5.

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26.1 - Immigration

21.4 - Burglary

10.5 - Other

IMPACT AREA

Cr1minal Justice

, .

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SOURCE

Joint Crime Suppression Task Force -Rampart Area Report. Los Angeles County Police Department.

- 5-

FINDING

.Illegal aliens represent 42.5% of the : felony arrests for repressible crime. 37.~% of felony arrests for narcotic/drug offenses. and 38.4% of the arrests in "other" felony category •

• A direct correlation does exist between the presence of illegal aliens and the level of criminal activity.

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IMPACT AREA

Cultural Impact

Cultural Impact

..

SOURCE

Illinois Study on Illegal Aliens, Legislative Investigating Commission State of Illinois, 1971.

Community Re 1 a ti ons Service. uep t. of Justice cited in New York Times, April 9, 1976, page 13.

- 6 -

FINDHIG

Since alrrost all are here for the p·Jrpose of earning rroney to take back or se:;j back to llexico, they live under ecor.or:dcally depressed conditions that mi 1 i tate agai ns~ · increasing the social well being of the corrmuni t .

\·:hile not all illegal aliens, dramatic influx of Spanish-speaking, a majority of \vhom are 1 ow-income, poorly-educated, young, high fertility rates, has serious implications for social order: increasing number of bilingual and bicultural communities, spec1al demands on educational system, fri.ction between newcomers and· settled population •

•

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Drugs

' Drugs

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l ' .

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IMPACT AREA

..

SOURCE

U.S. Congress. House. Immigration and naturalization Service Regional Office Operations, Part 4 Hearing before a Subcor,lmi ttee of the Committee on Government Operations, 93rd Congress 1st Session, Nove~ber 13 and 14, 1973.

Joint Crime Suppression Task Force Rampart Area Report. Los Angeles County Pol ice Department. ·

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------ ,...-,,-. ..... -- ; ~- ~--·- ·-~---···-·

FINDING

Chinese illegal aliens were involved ex­tensively in the smuggling of heroin from Southeast Asia.

Illegal aliens represent a disproportionate involvement in drug and narcotic activ1ty in the Rampart A rea.

I i I I l ..

' '---~----·------·--- ---------------,----· INPACT AREA

Education

SOURCE

Buder, leonard. "65,00U illegal aliens reported in city schools." The itew York T11nes. 12 June 1973.

FIND !tiS

Instruction of i !legals costs iiew York City $78 mi Ilion per year, an estircate derived from federa 1 figures. One ti10usand fore1gn students are enrolled at City University. Although foreign students pay the annual tuition of $900, the actual cost per student is about S2 .100 per 'lCear.

---------------------------------r---------------------------------r-~~~~~~~----------------~-----

" Education Brief analysis of tne number, cost impact of foreign students on california insti­tutions of higher learning.

California State Social Helfare Board. "Position Statement: Aliens in California." California: Health and ~Jel fare Agency, Department of Social ~Jelfare, January 1973. ---------------------------- --~~~~~~~=~~~~------------~--------------------------------

Education

--------------Education

Ortega, Joe C. 11 Plight of the Mexican l~etback. 11 American Bar Association Journal 58 (March 1972) pp. 251-Sq.

Migration, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, State of California, 1976, page 48.

Illegal aliens living in the U.S. have very few rights. Children of illegals are denied education in California v1here state·. law requires scnool superintendents to · request documentation of citizenshlp of children.

Claim for reimbursement as a result of educating nonimmigrant and noncitizen pup11s in California in 1971-1972-4,386,017.49 for 5813 pupils.

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Education

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Mig ration, Office of the Lieu tenant Gpvernor, State of California, 1976, page 48.

- 8-

The cla1ms for re1mbursement for the education of nonc1tizen children in San p

Di et;~o t..oun ty for the 1 as t 5 ·years have in­creased from $107,000 in ·1970-71 to $228,000 in 1974-75. Enrollment has in-creased 41%. ·

Health

Health

Health

Health

Health

r

~--- ------------------------ -----~~------------------

1

IMPACT AREA

.·

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SOURCE

North, David S., "interactions Between Illegal Alien Respondents and the Socia 1 Security Tax Co 11 ecti on Sys tern: Some Pre 1 imina ry Findings," a paper prepared for the Social Security Administration, July 1976.

U.S. Congress. House. Illegal Aliens Part 2, Hearings before Subcommittee No. 1, 2nd Congress, 1st Session, June 24, 25; July 9 and 10, 1971.

U.S. Congress. House. Illegal Ali ens Part 2, Hearings before Subcorami ttee No. 1, 2nd Congress, 1st Session, June 24, 25; July 9 and 10, 1971.

California State Social Welfare Board. 11 Position Statement: Aliens in Ca I iforn ia." Ca 1 iforn i a: Health and We 1 fare Agency, Department of Socia 1 Welfare, January 1973.

"Un Illegal Aliens" El Paso Times 19 January 1975.

- 9 -

FINOir~G

Of 793 apprehended illegal ali ens r1ho had been employed in the U.S. for two weeks or longer, 27% reported using hospitals or clinics.

Effect on we~fare and medical programs in Colorado. The Regional Director U.S. DHE~. and medical doctors with the Colorado Health Dept. and f.ligrant Coalition discuss impact

i illegal aliens nave in areas such as residing in hazardous housing , incidence : of infectious diseases, low level of . •

: imr.1unization, and impact on colorado and , 11i grant Health budgets~

The July 9-10 hearings held in El Paso in- • t

eluded testimony from U.S. DHtH Regional , Director and representatives of health and welfare services, concerning impact of illegal aliens upon health and welfare in the border states.

Regards data on impact illegals are having in the state of California tax supported ! medical care.

. ' According to County Judge Udell T. 11oore, El Paso County spent $300,00u for medical care to the children of i11egals.

IMPACT AREA

Health

Health

Health

Health

Health

SOURCE

11i ami Hera 1 d, ~1i ami, Florida, May 16, 1975.

"Taxpayers Hit by Alien Health Care, 11

The Bakersfield Californian, October 7. 1974.

Seman, Ray: nefund for Illegal Alien 1•1edica1 Care Sought." Los Angeles

_Times, 26 June 1974.

Garza, Daniel "Tracing the Deadly Tax Drain of Mexican Aliens,: Dallas, August 1974, pp. 23.

U.S. Dept. of HEW. Regional Office Vl "Regional f1emorandum 11 by Howard D. McMahan, Regional Director. Dallas, Texas, November 1973.

- 10 -

I FINDING

Between November 1974 and 14ay 1975 Jackson f·lemori a 1 Hos pita 1 in 1·1i ami , illegal aliens have cost the hospital over ! $20,000, costs which were passed on to other patients.

Los Angeles C~nty Health Department estimated cost of health services to illegal aliens during 1973-74 fiscal year at $8,153,804.

Los Angeles County hospitals seek federal reimbursement for $7 million in medical care rendered each year. The county collects only·lO% of the costs from illegals~ taxpayers pay the remaining $7 million.

The illegal alien often brings serious communicable diseases with him from Mexico, 1,. · yet avoids health officials until he is so sick he is an emergency cas.e. In the.mean­time barrio residents and others are exposed~

Talks about in~idence of disease among illegal aliens being one.of Region VI top priorities.

IMPACT AREA

Impact on Illegal Aliens

Impact on Illegal Aliens

Impact on Illegal Aliens

Impact on Illegal Aliens

Impact on Illegal Aliens

' ,

..

SOURCE

Nu1nc:rous ne\·Jspaper articles. Durham Morning Herald, Aug. 22, 1976; New York Times, June 6, 1976. & APril 28 1976.

New York Times, June 6, 1976, page 26.

Illinois Study on Illegal A)lens, Legislative Investigating Commission State of Illinois, 1971.

U.S. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Immigration and Naturalization Service Regional Of­fice Operations. Part 1 Hearings be­fore a subcommittee of the Co~ittee on Government Operations, 93rd Congress, 1st session, March 27; April 3 and 10, 1973.

Samora Julian. Los f1ojados: The l.!et­back Story. Notre Dame: University of Notre Da~re Press 1971.

-11-

FINDING

Frequent deaths of i I legal aliens w~ile riding freight trains or being smuggled in crowded vans and trucks.

Bandit gangs prey on t·1exican aliens crossing border; in 5 months, 5 killed and scores "'~unded in 93 reported attacks; probably no T110re than 20-25~; of attacks are reported.

Extortion of QOney by personnel placement officers of industrial plants and by some unscrupulous police officials is a particularly obnoxious corruptive practice.

Discussion at these hearings on the exploitation of illegal aliens by unscrupulous employers.

Chapter VI offers a profile of the wetback, talks about the problems of living outside society and of the exploitation at all levels.

I!·:?ACT ARSA

Labor

Labor

Labor

. ' Labor • '

Jl·

~ Labor

: I

Labor.

'

..

-----· -·-··-·--- ---------------·----SOURC!:

Gregory, John. "Life in the Barrios, A Study of Alien Nation.,. Los Angeles Times, 5 January 1Y75.

Holles, Everett R. "Ruling on r1exican Aliens Stirs Cn1'canos' Job Fears." The Nev-1 York Times, 2 December 1>J74.

Hashington. Inter-Agency Task Force for Agricultural ~Jorkers. u·Investiga­tive Study of tne Impact of Illegal Aliens on Farmv-1orkers in tile State of

. Hashington." Prel imin~ry Report, December !974.

Chicano-Hexican tensions regarding illegaJs: Some exploitation, some assistance. Primary, though anecdotal, data on life­style differences and econom1 c com pet 1 ti on be t\oteen the two.

c. The impact o~the SUpreme COurt regarding the right of resident aliens to•live in Mexico and worK in tne u.s. A composite of estimates from public service officials indicated the presence of 5,0u0 or more illegal aliens working in agriculture during a peak period in 1974, most of whom were concentrated in the Yakima Valley. There was an indication that most of these workers v-1ere taking jobs avtay from local and U.S. migrant work~=>rs. lllegals re­ceived an estimated $7.5 million in wages which is reported by Post Offices to be sent to Mexico • -Texas Good Ne1ghbor Commission of Texas. Talks about impact of illegal aliens on

Texas Migrant Labor 1Y73, Annual Report. farm job market. P.O. Box 12007, Austin, Texas 78711.

Illinois Legislative Investigating Commission ••. "Report to tne General Assembly on the Problems of Illegal Al~ens in Illinois." Cnicago, Illinois, October 1971.

U.S. Dept. of Labor. Manpower Admin. "The Legal and Illegal California Farm­worker: ~orne implications for Unem­ployment Insurance," by Pa11l E. Sultan and John M. Virgo, January 1974.

. !

Types of employment & places of employment of i I legals - procurement of social security cards by illegals.

Study on the direct1on in the change of un­employment insurance costs in California should farm\·torkers become eligible. Uis­cusses effects illegal aliens would have on unemp1 oyment insurance. Also considers the extent, metho<ls, and impacts of illegal manpower flows into California. See Chapters VI, VIII, IX, X •

• I

IMPACT AREA

Labor

labor

Labor

Labor

Labor

SOURCE

u.s. uept. of Labor. Manpower Admin. Fanning and Fam Labor, by Paul Sultan and uarryl D. Evans,Available from Hational Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va. 22151, 1974.

U.S. Dept. of Labor. Manpower Admin. The Horder Crossers: People \·tho Live in ffuxico and work in the United States, by David S. North. Available from the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22151, April 1970.

U.S. Dept of Commerce. t·1anpower Admin. "Bibliographic Literature on t~igrant Seasonal Workers: An Annotated Re­ference Guide. 11 Prepared by LHC Inc •. October 1914.

U.S. Dept. of Commerce. tconomic De­velopment Admin. "Industrial and Em­ployment Potential of the United States­t·1exican Border." by Robert 1<. Nathan Associates, Inc. Decembar 1~68.

U.S. Congress. House. Illegal Aliens, Part 4 Hearinos before Subcommittee No. ~· 92nd Congress, 2nd Session, i'tarch 10 ~nd 11, 1972.

- 13. -

FINDit1G

Analysis of the patterns and barriers of the occupational and geographic mobilityoi farm laborers in California. Presence, characteristics and role of illegals in farm-nonfarm employment is considered in Chapters II VII and VIII.

Study of the~flow, magnitude and characteristics of corrmut1ng f.lexican workers and their impact on the resident American Hark Force in the south\·l%t, where· v1ages are generally low and unemployment high. The origins of the commutation practice, the controversies it has created,· the role played by the border crossers in a variety of federal programs and the presence of illegals are also discussed.

Included in the bibliography on migrant workers are several references to the presence and impact of illegal aliens in the farm I abor force.

Report states that "tne large inflovl of legal and illegal rtexican immigrants, to­gether with corrrnuters \vho live in t·lexico but work in the United ~tates, undoubtedly cont;·ibutes to disruption of the labor market and to poverty problems on tne u.s. side of the border. u •

Testimony at these New York hearings from the DOL Regional t1anp0\·ler Admimstrator affirmed the belief that illegal aliens seriously depress wages and impair working conditions.

-----------------'-;------------·-. ·. IMPACT AREA

labor

!

' I I

I Labor

I

Labor

Labor

, labor

..

SOURCE

U.S. Congress. House. Illegal Aliens Part 2 Hearings before Subcomml ttee No. 1, 2nd Congress, 1st Session, June ~5; July 9 and 10, 1971.

U.S. Dept. of Labor. Manpovter Admin. A1 ien Harkers: A Study of the Labor Certification Program, by David S. North. Ava i1 ab 1 e from ttie Nation a 1 Technical Information Service, Spring­field, Virginia 22151, August 1971.

Population and the American Future, final Report. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 19/2.

Samora, Julian, and Bustamante, Jorge. 11 r·1exi can Immi gra ti on and American Labor Demands." Paper presented at the Center for ~ligration Studies, Brooklyn College, New York 197U. Reprinted in U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, Hearings of the Sub­committee on Migratory Labor, 9lst Congress, 1st and 2nd Session, Part 7-13 pp. 4783-4821. .

u.s. Senate Committee on Labor & Public Welfare,Migrant and Seasonal Farmv1orker Powerlessness, Part 1-BC Hearings before the Subcommittee on Migratory Labqr 9lst Congress 1st and 2nd Session, 1969~1970.

- 14 -

FINDING

The July 9-10 hearings held in El Paso included testimony and statements from DOL Regional Manpower Director, re­presentatives of local labor unions, em­ployment agencies, and employers con-cerning impact that i I legals have upon un- : employment, their wages and the question of 1 abor cEtrti fication. .

I A study of that part of the U.S. immigrant l screening process administered by the ! Dept. of Labor's labor certification. Tlie ; report provides a history of the program, describes its operation, ana analyses its impact on the labor marKet.

Recommends that Congress immediately con­sider passing legislation imposing civil and criminal sanctions on employers of illegal border crossers or aliens in an immigration status in which employment is not authorized. ·

~1exi can i 11111i gra ti on and Arne ri can 1 abor demands.

•

Focus on the presence and impact of i 11 ega l a 1 i ens P.a rt 4-13 Farmworker 1 ega 1 Problems; Part 5-13 Border Commuter Labor Problems; Part 7-13 Manpower and Economic Problems.

IMPACT AREA

Labor

Labor

Labor

•

SOURCE

Miami News, Miami, Florida August ~6, 1974.

t·1i gra ti on, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, State of ~.:alifornia, 1~76, page 29.

Migration, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, State of California, 197b, page 29.

Lippman, Leopold. 11 Guest Harkers, Handicapped WorKers: Are they the Seed bed of Conflict 11 The Social and Rehabilitation Record 1 (October 1974): 20-~4.

t·1exi can Intersecreta ri at Study. Mexico 1974.

Washington. Inter-Agency Task Force for Agricultural Horkers. 11 Investiga­tive Study of the Impact of Illegal Aliens on Farmworkers in the State of ~1ashi ngton." Preliminary Report, December 1974.

- 15-

FINDING

fJn estimated 70,000 aliens are working ·illegally in Dade County 1vhi le 43,000 citizens are out of work.

A study prepared by tne San Diego County Human Resource Agency in rlovember 1975 estimated t~t approx. 9,000 illegal aliens hold jobs in San Diego County and earn \vages totaling $34,560,000. 63:~ earn less than $2.50 per hour. Average wage was $2.00.

The Report estimates that over 1S'O,Ou0 , illegal r~exican aliens are employed in tne city of Los Angeles alone. If accurate, there are more ~1exi cans employed in Los Angeles than in any city in t4exico except ~1exico City and Guadalajara.

The use of the guest worker in Europe and : the illegal vlorKer in the U.S. who are willing to perform unpleasant v1ork for low· pay, has substantial - and negative im­plications for the prospects of employrrent for handicapped and rehabilitated workers •.

46.8~~ illegal aliens found \vork in the u.s.:, 53.2% never did, majority in agriculture, ; average number of days t-torked in U.S. was I 62. !

t

There were overwhelming indications that l jobs \<Jere being taken from local and u.s. ji

migrant workers by i1legals, which caused them econami c stress. I ..

l ! Labor i I i ;

I ;

1 Labor

i .

IMPACT AREA SOURCE FINDING

Stoddard, E11wyn R. "Ill ega 1 t·1exican According to Cesar Chavez, a mass of un-Labor in the Borderlands: Institu- employed 11exican rlationals avatlable to tionalized Support of an Unlai'Jful the American enl>loyer would completely Practice,: a paper prepared for undermine t:hicanos in their tactics of presentation at the 70th Annual l"eeting organized labor bargaining. of the American Sociological Associa-tion, August 25-29. 1975. \,

Illinois Stuqy on Illegal Aliens Community l{elationsServtce, uept. of Illinois, 1971.

Conservatively, !S,OuO jobs now held by Mexican illegals deprive employment to legally admitted aliens and united States citizens residing in Illinois. This situation aggravates the State's unemploy- , ment problem and causes collateral, un­favorable economic ramifications.

U.S. Congress. House. Committee on At these hearings Congress talks about the Government Operattons. Immigration and involvement of illegal al1ens in government Naturalization Service Regional Office sponsored programs such as OEO. , Operation, Part 1, Hearings before a Subcommittee of the.Committee on Government Operations, 93rd Congress, 1st Session, March 27, April 3 and 10, 1973.

U.S. Congress. House. Illegal Aliens, Part 3, Hearings before Subcommittee No. 1. 92nd Congress 1st Session, October 22 and 23, 1971; January 21, 1972.

- 16 -

~ At the January 21 Detroit hearings a re- , presentative of the 1 ocal Veterans of ; Foreign Wars spoke on thp effect of illegal i aliens upon veteran's opportunities for 1

emp 1 oyment i n the area. I I

---------------------------~--------------------------·-.--------------------------------

IMPACT AREA

Labor

SOURCE

No1·th, DavidS., "Interactions Be­tween Illegal Alien Respondents and

FINDING

· the Social Security Tax Collection

!·. System: Some Preliminary Findings," a

The average hourly wage of 793 apprehended illegal aliens who had wor~ed in the U.S. at least two weeks was $2.71. The lowest paid respondents earned $2.34 per hour as compared to 84.08 for the highest paid. paper prepared for the Socia 1 Security

~------------------------------~A~d~m~i~nl~·s~t~r~a~tl~·o~n~·~J~u.~lv~1~9~76~·----~----4-------------------------------~-----l

l Labor l 1

i l Labor I

1 Labor

labor

..

l~orth, DavidS., ''Interactions Be­t~veen Illegal Alien Respondents and tt1e Social Security Tax Collection System: Some Preliminary Findings, 11 a paper prepared for the Social Security Administration, July 1976. ·

• U.S. Congress. House. Illegal Aliens Part 2, Hearings before Subcommittee No. 1. 2nd Congress, 1st Session, June 24, 25; July 9 and 10, 1971.

Of 793 appre~nded illegal aliens who had worked in the U.S. for 2 weeks or longer only 16% had joined a labor union.

DOL Denver Regional t·1anpower Administration, ~age and Hour Div. Asst. Area Director, and

"

Colorado State Representatives testified : about impact illegal aliens have on labor problems (incluQing violation of min1mum ~age laws), impact of illegals on uroan as ' ~1ell as rural empl ovment. i

Karkashian, John E., "The Illegal Alien~ _1

•

unpublishoo paper for the Senior ~in;Hpo:, appreryended 1 n 1~7~ were employed and : .;,..,:For~ian 'l'h1 i'""r.DAnt of state 1976 tnany earn1 ng above m1 n1mum wage.

Cornelius, Wayne A., "tlexican ~1igra- ~t least in the agricultural sector, the tion to the United States: The View principal impact seems to be the depressior. 1

~ from Rural Sending Communities," a pf wage scales for certain types of un- • I

paper presented at the conference on ~killed jobs, rather than displacement of 1 f·1exi co and the United States: The rati V2 Ar.leri cans from them. They do, how- I'

Next Ten Years, School of Interna- ~ver, cornpl ete directly for certain types 1 ~iona1 Service, The American University pf non-agricultural jobs, particularly in !,

~ashington, D.C. March 18-19, 1976. actories and in the construction industry; put the degree of competition varies con- i piderably among job categories and aliens ' 11re frequently severely handicapped by i..

ow sKill teve1s, low levels of formal . ducation, and lack of facil1ty in the nglis'h language.

- 17 -

ii-i?ACT A?..C.A SOURCE -'!' ,.._ ........

r • .- ... ~o~. ll:.,

Loca 1 Economy

Local Economy

Local EconolllY

Local Economy

Local Econoll\Y

I I

Loca 1 Economy

U.S. Congress. House. I11egal A1iens Part 3, Hearings before Subcommittee iJo. 1 92nd Congress, 1st Session, October 22 and 23, 1971; January 21, 1972.

Briggs, Vernon M. Jr. Chicanos and Rural Poverty, Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press,l973.

I

Partes, Alejandro "Return of the Het­back'" Society, April/t-1ay 1974, pp. 40-46.

Velie, Lester. 11 Poverty at the Border: f.lexican Labor Brought in by Greedy U.S. Employers.: Readers Digest 97 (August 1970) 92-7.

Briggs, Vernon t-1. Jr. 11 The t·1exico -United States Border: Public Policy and Chicano Economic Helfare." Austin:

I The O:tober 22-23 Chicago hearings con­cerned the i::-:::>act that an indetemir.ate nu~ter of illegals would have on the urban labor ~arket, une;:1ployr.1ent, and living conditions offlexican An:ricans in the Cbicaao area.

A study on ~e adverse effects of the Sou thv:es t rural economy upon Chicanos, including considerable discussion of the nur:~ber, characteristics and impact of illegal :'i!xican aliens.

In the U.S. only the poor pay the price of illegal immigration: U.S. employers benefit from the existence of this pool-of abundant cheap labor.

This article describes the adverse economic prob 1 ems created for the American farm­v/Orker by the influx of green card co~uters and border crossers.

Center for the study of Human Resources, the University of Texas, 1974.

This study describes the history of illegal nexican immigration to the U.S. and recent attempts to control it through legislation. The author contends that a tight border policy is an essential co:nponent to any public effort to i~prove Chicano ecor.omic 1·1el fare.

Greene, She 1 don L. 11 Immi gra ti on Law and Rural Pover.ty -- The Problems of the Illegal Immigrant, Duke Lav1 Review. No. 3 {1969) 475-94. .

- is -

In 1966 domestic farr.r,:orkers wag~s v:ere under half the average prevailing \'ta~e in industrial employment". Efforts to unionize farmworkers failed due to a 1 arge influx of inexpensive nonresident Mexican labor.

._...._.,...--_ -----· ---- - ----.-~:---~---......,._...--~-.,...- ... ~- .. '""C~.;..:~~-----.-: ... -::"';!':'1" ... '"~""'1'....-:---·­

.•

..

IMPACT AREA

; Social Security I

1

j Social Security

1 I i Social Security

1 ' '

Social Security

..

SOURCE

North, DavidS., "Interactions Between Il regal Alien Respondents and the Social Security Tax Collection System: Some Preliminary Findings," a paper prepared for the Social Security Ad­ministration, July 1976.

U.S. Congress. House. Immigration and Naturalization Service Regional Office Operations, Part 4 Hearing before a Subconmi ttee of the Committee on Government Operations, 93rd Congress, 1st Session, November 13 and 14, 1913.

U.S. Dept of HEW, Regional Office VI "Regional Memorandum," by Howard D. tkNahan, Regional Director. Dallas, Te·xas, November 1~73.

Harth, DavidS., "Interactions BetvJeen Illegal Allen Respondents and the Social Security Tax Collection System: Some Preliminary Findings," a paper prepared for the Social Security Ad­ministration, July 1976.

- 19-

FINDING

Of 793 apprehended illegal aliens who had been emp 1 oyed in the U.S. tv10 weeks or longer, n;; reported they had social security taxes withheld from their pay.

Representatives from DHEvl testified in thesE hearings on the extent to which i 11egal s are receiving benefits under social security and other programs administered or supe•·-vi sed by DHHl.

Regional Director of HEW Region VI' talked about use of social security card as a device for identifying persons v1ho are entitled to work and also identifying illegal aliens. This measure as a means to cornbat1 ng unemployment created by illegals.

Three-quarters interviewed said their last employer had deducted social security con­tributions. The pattern was uneven, hml­ever. The lowest rate was reported in the 23 counties adjoining the u.S.-Hexico border, where only 27.9% of the respondents reported deductions.

IMPACT AREA

1 Taxes

Taxes

'Q· Taxes . ,

Taxes

Taxes

SOURCE

f·ligration, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, State of California, 1976, oaqe 30.

f·ligration, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, State of California, 1976. page 31.

Illinois Study on illegal kliens. Legislative Investigating Comr.lission, State of Illinois, 1971.

Illinois Study on Illegal Aliens, Legislative Investigating Commission, State of Illinois, 1971.

North, DavidS., "Interactions Betwees Illegal Alien Respondents and the Social Security Tax Collection· System: Some Preliminary Findings," a paper prepared for the ~ocial Security Ad­ministration, July 1976.

- 20 -

FINDING

San Diego County estimates that $6;768,000 in total taxes are 1 os t through the illegal aliens emoloved in the county.

Estimates of earnings and taxes paid based on two assumptions of number of illegal aliens working.

Assumption 1 ~ Assumption 2

• Of the 190 arrested i llega 1 11exican aliens : vJho were spot-checked, 114 failed to file •

i any State income tax returns. •

! Of 793 apprehended illegal aliens who had ! been employed in the U.S. for two 1·1eeks ~ or longer, 7:;% reported having 1 ncome taxes! wi thhe 1 d from their pay. 1

f

IMPACT AREA

Taxes

Taxes

Taxes

Taxes

'Q

: I

.

l

; .

..

SOURCE

Walsh, Denny. "House Panel estimates U.!:>. and States lose $115 miJ1ion a year in taxes that illegal Aliens Escape." The !Jew York Times, 13 June

FINDING

House panel estimates U.S. and states lose $115 m]J1ion a year· in taxes that illegal al1ens escape.

Karkash~an, John E., "The Illegal Alier. ', ~'unpUblished paper for the Senior Semina ~5% of emp1o_xed illegal aliens receive in Foreign Policy, Dept. of State, pay in cash ahd pay no Federal, State, 1976. · or city taxes.

Cornelius, iiayne A., "11exican Migration to the United States: The View from Rural Sending Communities.'' a paper presented at the Conference on t1exi co

·and the United States: The Next Ten Years, School of International Service, the American University, Washington, D.C., tlarch 18-19, 1976.

Nearly all paid social security, about half had personal income taxes withheld, some paid property taxes.

Based on the 1973 series of hearings held

' .

,

'

U.S. Congress. House. Interim Report on Immigration and fJaturalization Service Regional Office Operat1ons. House Report i~o. 93-1623, 93rd Congress 2nd Session, December 18, 1974.

by the Subcommittee on Legal and Monetary Affairs and tv1o GAO reports on the INS relays findings on such issues as illegal~ ~ aliens and unpaid taxes.

r •

) ~ . I I t l I j

i

.

. .

- 21 - ... i t

I I t

f

Welfare

Welfare

We I fare.

u Welfare

Welfare

IMPACT AREA

-- -- -­.·

SOURCE

North, Dav1d S., 11 Interactions Between Illegal Alien Respondents and the Social Security Tax Collection System: Some Pre 1 imina ry Findings," a paper prepared for the Social Security Ad­m1nistration, July 1976.

Washington. Inter-Agency Task.Force for Agricultural Workers. 11 Investiga­tive Study of the Impact of Illegal Aliens on Farmworkers in the State of \·Jashington." Preliminary Report, December 1974.

Cornelius, Wayne A., "Hexican Higration to the United States: The View from Rural Sending Communities," a paper presented at the Conference on Nexico and the United States: The Next Ten Years, School of international Service, The ~erican University, Washington, D.t;., Harch 18-19, 1916.

FINDI/,G

Of 793 apprehended illegal aliens who had been employed in the U.S. for t;.1o weeks or longer, 4'; collected one or more weeks of unemploymem: insurance, 1% partic1pated in U.S. funded job training programs, lh secured food stamps, and O.b% secured welfare payrrents.

There is no indication that the presence of illegal ali~ns has caused an increase in demand for pbblic welfare services ex­cept in food stamps and medica 1 services.

3 of 30 collected unemployment insurance; none ever received free medical care. food stamps, or welfare benefits.

New York Times, June 14, 1:!76, page 35. NYC Human Resources uncovered "marriages of convenience;" rerroval of 736 persons. including 103 aliens; monthly savings of $76,500.

Quality Control Study on AFDC by Social Rehabilitation Service.

- 22 -

In a 1975 study by SRS, .036% of a re­presentative sample of AFDC recipients were found to be illegal aliens. Total cost of illegal aliens on welfare projected j to be $3.8 million per year. 1

APPENDIX B

TASK FORCE ~ffiMBERS

Immigration Law and Policy task force

Chair: Leonard F. Chapman, INS Members: Craig A. Barrington, DOL

William W. Fee, OMB Cornelius D. Scully, DOS

. Law Enforcement task force

Chair: James F. Greene, INS Members: Malcolm E. Arnold, OMB

Mrs. Dorothy Come, DOL Walter J. Gorman, DOT/IRS Vernon B. Hann, DOT/CS Gilbert G. Pompa, DOJ/CRS Thomas c. Parrott, HE\v/SSA Ernest B. Dane, DOS

Social and Community Impact task force

Chair: Victor H. Vazquez, HEW Members: Meyer Zitter, Daniel Levine, CENSUS

Orval Kerchner, DOA Phil Hanna, OMB Gil Pompa, DOJ/CRS

Economic and Labor Market Impact task force

Chair: Abraham Weiss, DOL Members: David T. Hulett, OMB

William C. Motes, DOA Leslie W. Small, DOC Ross Sommers, DOT/IRS

Foreign Relations task force*

Chair: William H. Luers, DOS Members: James B. Clawson, DOT

William c. Motes, DOA James M. Ravlin, DOC

* Also known as the Inter Agency Committee on Mexican Migration to the u.s. which had been previously constituted pursuant to meetings between President Ford and President Echeverria of Mexico in 1974. The scope of its activities as originally defined has been broadened for purposes of the Domestic Council Committee work.

'

Abbreviations

- 2 -

Herbert N. Blackman, DOL Victor Vazquez, HEW James F. Greene, INS Mary Brownell, NSC Richard D. Parsons, DC Loren E. Lawrence, DOS John T. Dreyfuss, DOS

CRS - Community Relations Service CS - Customs Service DC - Domestic Council DOA - Department of Agriculture DOC - Department of Commerce DOJ - Department of Justice DOL - Department of Labor DOS - Department of State DOT - Department of Treasury HEW - Department of Health, Education and Welfare INS - Immigration and Naturalization Service IRS - Internal Revenue Service NSC - National Security Council OMB - Office of Management and Budget SSA - Social Security Administration

DOJ-1976-12

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER

Dear Mr. Parsons:

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20536

DEC 9 1976

PLEAS£ ADDRESS REI'!. Y TO

CO 1326-P AJID II£FER TO THIS FJLE NO.

As part of the major Illegal Alien Study effort, l&NS has recently completed the Fraudulent Entrants Study which was designed to determine the flow of illegal aliens entering through the ports of entry wtth counterfeit or altered alien or citizen documents, borrowed or stolen valid documents, false verbal claims to United States citizenship, or valid documents the terms of which the bearer intended to vtolateo

The s tud.Y, which was undertaken between Septent>er 1975 and February 1976, was conducted along a statistically defensible design by two teams of four Im1grat1on Inspectors each at the ten largest international air­ports and the twelve largest Southwest border land ports of entry. Major findings of the study include:

PRAIJDl/LENT DOCUMBNXS INTERCEPTED

(This category includes aliens with counterfeit or altered alien documents or who were impostors presenting va11d cards along the SOuthwest border) •

• The results of the Fraudulent Entrants Study 1 ndicate that at least 14 ttmes the routinely detected number of aliens with fraudulent documents successfully enter through Southwest border ports of entry •

• An estimated 1451000 aliens with fraudulent documents are successfully enterfng the United States through Southwest border ports each year.

FALSE CLAINS !1.'0 U. s. CIXIZENSHIP

• The results of the Fraudulent Entrants Study indicate that at least 10 times the routinely detected number of aliens falsely cla1m1ng u.s. c1t1zensh1p are entering at Southwest border ports of entry.

,

\ \

• An estimated 103,000 aliens falsely claiming to be u.s. citizens are successfully entering the United States through Southwest border ports each year .

ALIENS VIOLATING THE TERNS OF 9!HEIR ADMISSION WI'J!11 BORDER CROSSING CARDS

• The results of the Fraudulent Entrants Study indicate that at least 13 times the routinely detected number of aliens entering with border crossing cards and subsequently becoming illegal once they are in the United States are being admitted at Southwest border ports of entry •

• J\n estimated 205, 000 aliens are successfully entering the United States each year through Southwest border ports by entering with a valid border crossing card and subsequently working or otherwise violating the tenns of the1r temporary admission.

• The results of the Fraudulent Entrants Stuczy 1 ndicate that at least 14 times the routinely detected number of inadmissible aliens are successfully entering the United States through major airports .

noit~o

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• An estimated 50,000 aliens for whom it can be determined at entry intend to work or become illegal through other means after entry with a valid visitor or student visa , or who have fraudulent documents , or who make false claims to u.s. citizenship are successful ly entering the United States through the major airports each year. This figure does not include the thousands of visitors and students WiiO enter legally and subsequently de-cide to renain illegally in the United States.

Based on these data . there are more than one-half million illegal entries into the United States each year through ports of entry. This number compares with the 44.328 aliens who awere denied admission during 1975 because they were attempting entry with counterfeit or altered alien or citizen documents as impostors, by false verbal claims to u.s. citizenship, or valid docunents the tenns of which the bearer intended to violate. An additional 750,000 aliens who were determined to oe inadmissible for other reasons were also denied entry during FY 1975. Aliens in these other categories were not included tn the Fraudulent Entrants Study, however.

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- --The Fraudulent Entrants Study indicates. for international airports

and Southern land border ports, the dimensions of the 1llega1 a11en influx. To achieve a denial rate that is far closer to the total number of illegal aliens entering through the ports, I have made prevention, both at the ports of entry and between them. the Service's top prtortty.

I am enclosing for your interest a copy of this first completed part of the Illegal Alien Study. As the other parts of this major effort bea>me avail­able, they will also be forwarded to you. Please call me if you would like additional copies of the Fraudulent Entrants Study or if I can answer any questions you may have about the Study.

Honorable Richard D. Parsons Assistant Director and Counsel Domestic Council The White House Washington, D. C. 20500

Sincerely,

~·. . . . , ~.o__.~J L.~ ·f; Ctiapilin, Jr.

Cormrf s s 1o ner

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